LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

CHARLOTTE   Bl ESTER 


- 


*        * 


.  - 


THE 


STUDENT'S  MANUAL 


DESIGNED, 

BY  SPECIFIC  DIRECTIONS,        » 

TO   AID    lit 
FORMING   AND    STRENGTHENING 

THE  INTELLECTUAL  AND  MORAL  CHARACTER 
AND  HABITS 


THE  STUDENT. 


BY  REV.  JOHN  TODD, 
*t 

PASTOR  OF  THE  EDWARDS   CHURCH,  NORTHAMPTON,  AUTHOR  OF 
LECTURES  TO  CHILDREN,  &C. 


SEVENTH  EDITION. 

NORTHAMPTON : 
PUBLISHED     BY      J.    H.     BUTLER. 

BOSTON,  CROCKER  k  BREWSTFR  AND  WILLIAM  PIERCE.      NEW-YORK, 
LEAV1TT,  LORD  k  CO.       PHILADELPHIA,  WM.  MARSHALL  k  CO. 
BUFFALO,  T.  a  M.  BUTLER. 

1837. 

*  I 

*-- 


Entered,  according  to   Act  of  Congress,  in  the   year  1835,  By  J.  H. 
BUTLER,  In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


DEDICATION 


WITHOUT  attempting  to  enumerate  the  kind  things 
which  might  be  said  in  this  connection,  it  is  sufficient 
for  my  purpose  to  say,  that  I  esteem  it  a  high  pleasure 
thus  publicly  to  acknowledge  the  decided  and  unob- 
trusive worth  of  ONE  whom  I  am  allowed  to  number 
among  my  personal  friends — of 


THOMAS    NAPIER,   ESQ. 

•j 


NORTHAMPTON,    MASS. 


THIS    VOLUME 


AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 


. 


PREFACE 


HAIIDLY  any  class  of  men  are  so  difficult  to  be  reached 
as  students,  and  the  undertaking  is  hazardous ;  but  no 
class  of  men  are  so  open  to  conviction,  so  alive  to 
manly  principle,  so  susceptible  of  good  impressions, 
when  the  effort  to  aid  them  is  judicious  and  worthy  of 
their  attention.  Whether  the  present  attempt  is  a  hap- 
py one,  the  author  is  not  presumptuous  enough  to  say. 
The  highest  wish  of  his  heart  would  be  to  have  its  re- 
ception and  success  commensurate  with  his  esteem  and 
love  for  those  for  whose  welfare  he  feels  the  strongest 
interest,  and  for  whose  benefit  he  has  written. 

Scarcely  any  hour  can  be  more  anxious  to  the  parent 
than  that  in  which  he  takes  leave  of  his  child,  after 
having  carried  him  away  from  home  to  some  public 
Institution  for  the  purpose  of  study.  He  knows  the 
temptations  which  will  beset  his  child,  without  knowing 
any  way  by  which  to  shield  him.  I  have  tried  to  make 
this  book  such  a  friend  as  he  will  wish  to  leave  with  his 

son,  to  aid  him  in  forming  his  character. 

,  .        *  " 

The  youth  who  goes  from  home,  and  takes  his  place 

among  his  fellows  at  a  strange  place,  for  the  purpose  of 
study,  feels  that  it  is  all  new  to  him  :  he  is  inexperienced, 
and  knows  not  how  to  form  the  character  which  he  in- 


6  PREFACE. 

tends  to  possess.  He  has  no  friend  who  has  been  over 
the  ground,  and  knows  it  all,  to  whom  he  can  go  for 
advice,  for  encouragement,  and  aid.  For  such  I  have 
endeavored  to  write  this  book. 

In  the  different  professions,  there  are  multitudes  who 
feel  that  they  are  not  students,  have  not  the  habits,  the 
character  of  students ;  and  yet  they  know  not  where 
the  difficulty  is,  or  what  to  do.  If  such  do  not  find 
hints  in  this  volume  which  will  aid  and  encourage 
them,  I  shall  have  deep  regrets,  and  no  small  morti- 
fication. 

A  very  few  paragraphs  in  this  work  will  be  found  in 
an  ephemeral  Address  which  the  Author  delivered  be- 
fore one  of  our  colleges  a  short  time  since. 

Some  may  wonder  at  the  taste  which  has  now  and 
then  interspersed  a  quotation  in  Latin.  Those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  taste  of  students,  know  how  much  they 
admire  a  beautiful  thought  in  beautiful  language,  and 
how  much  more  highly  a  nut  is  relished,  if  they  have  to 
crack  it. 

Why  is  not  the  work  more  decidedly  religious  ?  Be- 
cause the  design  of  it  is  to  aid  in  forming  the  whole. 
character  of  the  student.  The  two  Jast  chapters,  it  is 
hoped,  will  not  be  found  deficient  in  this  respect. 

May  He,  without  whose  blessing  every  attempt  at 
being  useful  is  lost,  own  it,  and  make  it  the  instrument 
of  much  good  to  those  who  are  the  hope  of  their  friends 
and  the  hope  of  their  country. 

NORTHAMPTON,  May  1,  1835. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
OBJECT    OF    STUDY.       INTRODUCTORY. 

The  mind  of  man.  Ferguson.  Why  so  little  accomplished.  Want  of  ex- 
perience in  the  student.  Character  acquired  while  a  student  indelible. 
Responsibility  as  to  character.  For  whom  writing.  Frigate  Constitu- 
tion in  a  storm  at  sea.  Presence  of  mind.  The  helmsman.  Inference. 
Time  and  opportunities  lost.  Savage  and  cultivated  mind  compared. 
All  capable  of  excelling.  Clavius.  The  boy  on  the  top  of  the  steeple. 
Eccentricities  of  character.  Folly  of  expecting  to  be  a  genius.  Edu- 
cation your  own  work.  Student  must  labor.  Tomaso  Anello,  the  fisher- 
boy.  No  excellence  without  toil.  The  ocean  insect.  The  motto.  The 
object  of  education.  A  shrewd  suspicion.  Improve  through  life.  Con- 
centration of  thought.  Example  of  abslraction.  Appetites  and  pas- 
sions must  be  subdued.  Necessity  of  cultivating  attention.  Example. 
Demosthenes.  Patience.  Mistaken  views  on  this  subject.  Benjamin 
Franklin's  beginning.  Example  of  patience.  Student  must  have  a  char- 
acter of  his  own.  Folly  of  being  an  imitator.  Anecdote  of  Andrew  Ful- 
ler. Greatness  not  to  be  copied.  The  judgment  must  be  formed.  Wast- 
inglife — remarkable  example.  Second  example.  What  is  wanted.  Good 
habit— example.  The  mind  will  bear  hard  usage.  Continued  efforts. 
Hamilton.  President  Porter.  The  two  monks.  Knowledge  of  human 
nature  necessary.  Jonathan  Edwards.  Who  understands  human  nature 
best  ?  Self-knowledge.  Measure  yourself.  Vanity  unacceptable.  Mod- 
esty of  a  well-disciplined  mind.  Memory.  Originality  not  common. 
Originality  not  necessary.  Object  of  study  repeated.  Power  of  mem- 
ory. Away  from  home.  Tediousness  of  the  student's  life.  Con- 
clusion   13 

CHAPTER  II.  * 
HABITS. 

Power  of  habit.  Easily  formed.  They  are  formed  by  all.  It  ought  to 
be  so.  How  to  form  a  habit.  Example.  The  prisoner.  A  second  ex- 
ample. First  direction  in  regard  to  habits— have  plans.  The  snow- 
path.  How  to  calculate  for  a  day.  Reviewing  the  day.  Character 
formed.  A  student's  day.  Second  direction — untiring  industry.  Folio 
volumes.  Indian  maxim.  Who  is  a  blusterer.  Who  has  leisure.  Seneca. 
Rutherford.  Luther.  Jeremiah  Evarts.  Idleness  certain  death.  Third 
direction — perseverance.  Example  of  the  contrary  habit.  Decision  au 


CONTENTS. 

attendant  on  perseverance.  Effect  of  changing  plans.  Results  of  perse- 
verance. Habit  of  putting  off.  Charles  XII.  Fourth  direction— •punc- 
tuality. Brougham.  Difficult  attainment.  Why  we  love  a  punctual  man. 
Blackstone.  Brewer,  while  a  student.  Loss  by  the  want  of  this  habit. 
Mistakes  made.  Filth  direction — early  rising.  Swift's  remark.  For- 
mer times.  Curious  instance  in  Button.  Frederic  II.  Doddridge. 
Early  rest  necessary.  How  to  form  the  habit.  The  clock.  Yale  and 
Amherst  Colleges.  Many  fight  against  forming  the  habit.  Besetting 
sin.  Sixth  direction — learn  from  every  thing.  Walter  Scott.  Wisdom 
in  a  servant  girl.  Value  of  this  habit.  "Spencer.  Wirt's  view  of 
this  subject.  The  principle  illustrated.  Seventh  direction— -fxed  prin- 
ciples. What  makes  a  firm  character.  The  tried  shelf.  Characters 
and  books  to  be  classified.  The  martyr  Latimer.  Eighth  direction — 
personal  habits.  Tobacco.  The  "  Royal  Counterblast."  Effects  of 
the  system.  Dress.  Change  of  garments.  Economy  in  dress.  Dan- 
dyism. Alexander's  courtiers.  The  teeth.  How  preserved.  Singu- 
larity. Manners  at  table.  What  society  demands  as  to  manners. 
Cleanliness.  The  fable.  Ninth  direction' — doing  every  thing  well. 
Johnson.  The  prize  lost.  Common  things.  Euripides.  Buonaparte. 
M'Donough's  victory.  Tenth  direction — temper.  Goldsmith's  temper. 
Danger  to  a  student.  Manliness.  Contentment.  Petty  troubles.  Im- 
aginary inferiority.  Reverie.  It  is  common.  Sours  the  feelings. 
Eleventh  direction — sound  judgment.  The  troublesome  watch.  Judg- 
ing of  your  own  character.  The  officer's  method.  Twelfth  direction — 
treatment  of  friends.  Their  anxiety.  Illustration.  Writing  to  friends 
Example.  Son.  Letter  from  a  son.  Effects  of  letter-writing'.  Choos- 
ing friends.  What  traits  of  character  necessary.  Beautiful  maxims. 
Esteem  necessary  to,  friendship.  Envy  not  allowed.  Friends  to  be 
chosen  for  the  qualifications  of  the  heart.  How  to  keep  friends.  What 
the  great  duty  of  friendship.  Veracity  essential.  Part  of  daily  habits 
to  cultivate  friends • 47 

CHAPTER  III. 
STUDY. 

Study  seems  easy.  Interruptions  cannot  be  avoided.  Suggestions.  Num- 
ber of  hours  of  study.  German  students.  Severe  application.  Posi- 
tions of  the  body.  Grimke's  plan.  Chairs  and  lights.  No  conversa- 
tion in  study  hours.  Studying  aloud.  Thorough.  How  to  conquer  a 
country.  Inaccurate  scholars — how  made.  The  two  farms.  Exam- 
ple from  Moliere.  Example  of  a  thorough  scholar.  Thoughts  to  be  fol- 
lowed. Translations.  Their  effects.  Expect  hard  study.  President 
Dwight.  Testimony  of  Wirt.  How  to  make  practical  men.  Frank- 
lin's habits.  How  to  think.  Brougham's  application.  No  quarrelling 
with  studies.  The  chancellor's  young  horse.  Geometry.  Philosophy. 
Perseverance.  The  Icelander — a  curious  example.  Excuses  for  not 
studying  hard.  Milton.  Fuller.  How  a  student  is  known.  Testimo- 
ny o"f  Prof.  Stuart.  Necessity  of  reviewing.  How  to  commit  grammar 
to  memorv.  The  jeweller's  shop.  Wyttenbach's  testimony.  How  to 
review.  How  far  carried.  The  fog.  Necessity  illustrated.  Quintil- 
ian.  Appointed  exercises.  Pres.  Porter's  testimony.  Punctuality. 
Rest  the  mind.  How  done.  Illustrated.  Example  of  Dr.  Good.  The 
old  adage  untrue ^ 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  IV.  * 
READING. 

Brutus.  Pliny.  Anecdote  of  Petrarch.  Bacon's  aphorism.  Necessity 
of  reading.  Remark  of  President  Porter.  Queen  Caroline.  Object  of 
reading.  How  to  read  to  advantage.  Must  be  deliberate.  Seneca's 
remark.  Ancients  had  but  few  books.  Scarcity  of  books  in  Europe 
formerly.  Obstacles  in  the  way  of  knowledge  formerly.  Excellence 
of  the  ancients.  We  read  much.  Bad  books.  Cautions.  Their  cer- 
tain ruin.  Guilt  of  selling  such  books.  Byron.  Danger  of  such  writers. 
Abuse  of  imagination.  A  delicate  subject.  Onanis  scelus.  Crimon 
commune.  Ethnic!.  Dei  ira.  Fructus.  They  cannot  live  long. 
Moore  and  Scott.  Hume  and  Paine.  Effects  of  such  writings.  Chal- 
mers. Edmund  Burke.  Testimony  against  novels.  How  know  what 
to  read.  Standard  authors.  Read  110  poor  books.  How  begin  to 
read  an  author.  How  to  know  an  author.  How  to  read  with  the 
greatest  profit.  Marginal  marks.  Read  slow.  Reading  should  be 
talked  over.  Reviewing  books.  Classification.  Index  Rerum.  News- 
papers and  magazines.  Reading  with  pen  in  the  hand.  Objects  in 
reading.  Style.  Illustrated.  Edwards  on  the  Will.  Illustration. 
Stocking  the  mind  with  knowledge.  Barlholin's  remark.  Stimulating 
the  mind.  Illustrated.  Pleasures  of  reading.  Buying  books.  . .  138 

CHAPTER  V. 


Difficulties  of  the  subject.     Remark  of  Seneca.    Earl  of  Chatham's  hah 


ists.  Buying  books.  Thieves.  First  thief — sleep.  Sleeping  after  din- 
ner. Second  thief — indolence..  Third  thief — sloth.  Madame  de  Gcnlis. 
Authors  experience.  Variety  grateful  to  the  mind.  Erasmus.  Fourth 
thief — visiting.  Fifth  thief—  reading  useless  books.  Novel-clubs.  Sixth 
thief — improper  study.  Whipping  clogs.  Seventh  thief — ivearied  mind. 
Eighth  thief — procrastination.  Illustrated.  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Ninth 
thief—  not  completing  our  plans.  Papers  of  a  genius.  Order  essential. 
.Order  must  be  perfect.  Trifling  pursuits.  Nero  and  those  like  him. 
The  hunting  painarch.  Dressing.  Diversions.  Life  may  be  doubled. 
Locke's  observations.  Who  lives  longest.  Thought  from  the  proph- 
et. Curious  illustration.  Turkish  stojy.  The  exiled  king.  King  re- 
turned. The  moral.  Who  enjoys  most.  Save  the  fragments  of 
time.  What  might  be  done.  Necessity  of  prayer.  Evening  review. 
Queen  Elizabeth.  Dr.  Young 168 


CHAPTER  VI. 
CONVERSATION. 


The  evening  party.    Power  of  conversation  valuable.    Agreeable.    A 
gift  of  our  Creator.    Power  of  persuasion.    Illustrated.    Use  in  ob- 


10  CONTENTS. 


taining  information.  Matter  of  study.  Floating  thought.  City  inhab- 
itants. Conversation  refines  the  feelings.  Conversation  a  poor  substi- 
tute for  books.  Advantages  of  the  student.  Should  cultivate  his 
powers.  First  suggestion — talking  upon  trifles.  Every  circle  may 
nave  profitable  conversation.  Great  minds.  Robert  Hall.  A  common 
mistake.  Second  suggestion — severe  speaking.  The  ichneumon.  De- 
tractors. Notion  of  the  Tartars.  The  cruelty  of  wit.  Illustrated  by 
the  dying  Socrates.  A  wise  remark.  Curious  example.  Flattery. 
Its  philosophy.  Dr.  Johnson's  keenness.  Goldsmith's  character  of 
Garrick.  Third  suggestion — ridicule  nothing  sacred.  The  voice  of 
experience.  Profane  language.  Lord  Chesterfield.  The  profane 
bishop.  Beautiful  satire.  Fourth  suggestion — topics  of  conversation. 
Not  to  use  your  last  reading.  Illustrated.  A  conteYnptible  method  of 
flattery.  Illustrated.  Conversation  an  intellectual  feast.  Talk  about 
yourself  as  little  as  possible.  Old  jests  and  anecdotes.  Saying  smart 
things.  Spare  the  weaknesses  of  men.  Danger  of  being  witty.  Exam- 
ple from  Gil  Bias.  How  to  become  a  wit.  Avoid  pedantry.  Illus- 
trated. Quoting  Latin  and  Greek.  Double  entendres.  Impurity  of 
expression.  How  to  use  anecdotes.  Two  cautions.  First  caution. 
Second  caution.  Illustrated.  Minuteness.  Envy  to  be  avoided.  No- 
Die  example.  Cheerfulness.  Mason's  excellent  rules.  Temper  to  be 
preserved.  Disputes  not  proper  for  company.  The  responsibility  of 
the  power  of  conversation.  The  student's  accountability 194 


CHAPTER  VII. 
POLITENESS   AND    SUBORDINATION. 

The  students'  supper.  Our  first  impressions.  How  a  polite  man  it 
treated.  National  character.  Two  curious  examples.  Danger  of  stu- 

.  dents.  Learned  children.  Real  politeness  begins  in  early  life.  One  dan- 
ger. Danger  lo  religious  students.  Effects  of  vacations  upon  the  student's 
politeness.  Visiting  the  ladies.  Effects  of  radicalism  upon  politeness. 
New  England  students.  Southern  manners.  Professional  men  not  po- 
lite. Illustrated.  The  philosophy  of  the  fact.  Illustrated  by  a  French 
lady.  Politeness  always  receives  attentions.  Consistent  with  inde- 
pendent feelings.  Want  of  it  no  mark  of  genius.  Clement  XIV. 
Hints.  Good  humor  necessary.  Kind  feelings  necessary.  Con- 
science must  be  cultivated.  Principles  of  the  gospel  lead  to  politeness. 
Cheerfulness  essential.  Health  essential  to  cheerfulness.  Friendship 
cultivates  politeness.  SUBORDINATION.  Subordination  a  law  of 
Heaven.  Subordination  to  the  state  laws.  Laws  of  friendship.  Laws 
of  the  street.  Illustrated.  College  rebellions.  A  book  needed.  Spe- 
cimen of  the  contents  of  the  new  book.  Four  suggestions.  The  facul- 
ty are  on  right  principles.  Their  character  is  good.  Public  sentiment 
always  in  favor  of  the  faculty.  Illustrated.  The  student  misses  his  aim 
in  rebelling.  Illustrated  by  the  saw-mill.  The  results  of  a  rebellion 
are  ruinous  to  some.  How  excitement  is  produced.  A  mistaken  notion. 
Two  reasons  why  a  rebellion  is  so  ruinous.  The  first  reason.  A  great 
shock  received.  Difficult  to  recover.  The  second  reason.  Discipline 
of  mind  lost.  Rebelling  a  dishonorable  business.  No  need  of  it.  Stu- 
dent's life  one  of  trial. 227 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
EXERCISE.      DIET.      ECONOMY 

Why  exercise  is  needed.  Illustrated.  Health  every  thing1  to  the  student. 
Why  this  necessity  is  not  felt.  Henry  Kirke  White.  How  the  mind 
may  be  rapidly  matured.  This  not  desirable.  A  fashion  in  this  coun- 
try. Study  must  endanger  health.  Who  is  a  hero.  The  fatigue 
of  study.  Illustrated.  We  try  to  mature  too  soon.  Difficulties  which 
prevent  exercise.  First  difficulty.  Second  difficulty.  Third  difficulty. 
The  manual-labor  system.  Objections  to  it.  The  best  exercise  for 
the  student.  Illustrated.  The  fourth  difficulty.  How  to  meet  this  diffi- 
culty. Exercise  must  be  regular.  Must  be  agreeable.  It  should  relax 
the  mind.  Cardinal  De  Retz.  Exercise  to  be  increased  at  particular 
times.  Professional  men.  Paul.  Illustrious  men  have  labored  with 
the  hands.  Examples.  Summary  of  the  advantages  of  exercise.  Mind  _ 
strengthened  by  exercise.  Confirmation.  DIET.  Students  fickle  on  this 
subject.  Dryden's  account  of  the  first  diseases.  Hints  on  diet.  Diet 
must  correspond  with  exercise.  Fasting.  Effects  of  our  habits.  Dr. 
Spring's  prescription.  Regularity  of  diet.  Simplicity  in  diet.  Singu- 
lar instance  of  one  indulgence.  Stimulating  drinks.  Bad  effects  upon 
the  student.  ECONOMY.  Most  of  our  students  are  indigent.  Indigence 
no  injury  to  a  student.  Johnson  and  Savage.  Poverty  of  Savage.  Ad-  '• 
vantages  of  indigence.  Illustrated  by  men  now  on  the  stage.  Should 
not  be  ashamed  of  poverty.  Be  anxious  to  keep  out  of  debt.  What  to 
do  if  debts  are  absolutely  necessary.  Not  consult  taste  in  purchases. 
Do  not  buy  because  the  thing  is  cheap.  Temptation  of  buying  books. 
Form  habits  of  economy  for  life.  No  mark  of  genius  to  be  careless  in 
regard  to  debts.  Make  your  expenses  a  matter  of  conscience.  . . .  260 

CHAPTER  IX. 
DISCIPLINE    OF    THE    HEART. 

A  designed  omission.  An  early  duty.  Infidel  notions.  What  sort  of 
men  are  infidels  ?  Testimony  of  one  who  had  been  an  infidel.  No 
safety  in  opinions  if  religious  views  are  loose.  The  mind  of  an  infidel 
cannot  make  much  impression.  Settle  your  religious  views  early.  No 
one  can  be  safe  without  fixed  principles.  Resolutions  of  Edwards. 
Resolutions  of  a  distinguished  man.  A  common  prejudice  among  stu- 
dents. Religion  exalts  the  mind.  Means  of  disciplining  the  Heart, 
First  suggestion.  Every  thing  may  contribute  to  it.  Every  event  de- 
signed for  moral  discipline.  Second  suggestion.  Cultivate  the  conscience. 
Use  of  a  cultivated  conscience.  Illustrations.  How  the  greatest  efforts 
of  the  mind  can  be  called  forth.  Thoughts  at  a  grave.  We  must  meet 
with  temptations.  They  are  constant.  Examples  of  temptations. 
Third  suggestion.  Avoid  temptation.  Easily-besetting  temptations. 
Companions.  Conversation.  Particular  seasons.  Particular  associa- 
tions. Vile  reading.  Little  failings.  Natural  temperament.  Beware 
of  temptations  to  which  you  naturally  incline.  Fourth  suggestion. 
Temper.  Example  of  a  subdued  temper.  Temper  may  be  cultivated. 
Roger  Sherman.  His  patience.  Remarkable  example  of  a  subdued 
temper.  Necessity  of  attending  to  the  temper.  Example  of  Sir  Wal- 
tc.r  Raleigh.  Irritability  of  the  temper.  Fifth  suggestion.  Improve- 
ment of  thoughts  when  alone.  Cautions.  Advantages  of  being  alone. 


12  CONTENTS. 

The  future  to  be  anticipated.  Your  own  teacher.  Study  your  own 
character.  You  will  find  deficiencies.  Who  are  your  flatterers  ?  No 
other  way  but  by  meditation  to  correctly  understand  the  Divine  character. 
Sixth  suggestion.  Daily  reading  the  word  of  God.  Mungo  Park.  Two 
revelations  from  heaven.  A  parallel  between  them.  Inspired  eulogy. 
Uninspired  eulogy.  Sir  William  Jones.  Comprehensiveness  of  the 
Bible.  The  Scriptures  must  be  read  daily.  Example  of  Elizabeth. 
Locke.  Hints  for  reading  the  Bible.  First  hint.  Second  hint — trans- 
lation to  be  used.  The  Book  of  Proverbs.  Third  hint — disposition. 
Difficulties  in  reading  the  Scripture.  Fourth  hint — responsibility.  Why 
you  may  not  neglect  the  Scripture.  Seventh  suggestion.  Faithful  re- 
viewing. Sickness.  Changes  in  circumstances.  Examination  of  the  heart 
on  Saboath  evening.  A  help  suggested.  Use  of  dreams  upon  moral 
character.  Review  at  night  important.  Effects  of  the  evening  review. 
The  dying  heathen  philosopher.  Eighth  suggestion.  Daily  prayer. 
Students  especially  need  prayer.  Excuse  of  having  no  time.  Hints  in 
regard  to  prayer.  Regular  hours.  Morning  and  evening  the  best  times 
fordevotion.  Examples  of  praying  men.  Conscience  to  be  kept  pure. 
Excuse  of  not  being  a  Christian  examined.  Pray  in  Christ's  name.  Ask 
for  the  Holy  Spirit 329 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE    OBJECT    OF   LIFE. 

Picture^  of  the  imagination.  Visions  of  good  men.  Our  visions  a  test  of 
character.  The  youth  returning  from  a  whaling-voyage.  The  dying 
thought  of  Hooker.  The  world  under  an  immense  mistake.  The  army 
of  Xerxes.  The  crusade.  Peter  the  Hermit.  A  wonderful  example  of 
avarice.  Ancient  kingdoms.  Experiment  of  paganism.  The  experi- 
ment of  the  Romish  church.  Fate  of  Galileo.  The  spirit  of  war  uni- 
versal. Career  of  Buonaparte.  A  striking  contrast  supposed.  Esti- 
mation in  which  war  is  now  held.  A  horse-race.  Prostitution  of  mind 
unlameuted.  The  hopes  of  each  generation  of  men.  The  world  left 
to  sink.  Who  is  great  ?  Individual  examples.  The  merchant.  The 
politician.  The  refined  scholar.  Thought  of  Pascal.  Every  one  has 
an  object.  The  appetites  and  passions.  Seeking  after  wealth.  Life 
of  ambition.  The  vexations  of  the  ambitious  man.  Admiration  short- 
lived. Difficulties  in  sustaining  a  reputation.  No  one  satisfied  with 
his  reputation.  Restlessness  of  ambition.  Example  of  a  disappointed 
man  of  ambition.  Curious  example.  Character  of  fame.  The  worth 
of  ambition  imaginary.  By  expelling  this  principle  we  do  not  leave 
the  heart  empty.  We  need  a  high  motive  of  action.  What  it  is.  A  high 
standard  is  practicable.  Illustrations.  Examples  of  a  wrong  standard. 
Example  of  the  right  standard.  We  have  the  power  of  selecting  the 
object.  What  is  duty.  Testimony  of  reason.  Testimony  of  con- 
science. Advantages  of  the  true  standard.  The  soul  is  filled.  Engross- 
es the  whole  heart.  Conquers  sin.  Leads  to  activity.  Shows  valuable 
results.  No  waste  of  efforts.  Ensures  the  approbation  of  conscience.  Ob- 
tains the  approbation  of  (he  world.  Obtains  the  approbation  of  Heaven. 
The  dying  mother.  Feelings  of  an  author  in  closing  his  book.  How 
the  reader  is  entreated  to  act.  State  of  the  world.  Much  depends  on 
students.  Circumstances  in  vhich  we  are  called  to  act.  Responsibility 
of  our  situation.  Power  of  reaching  men.  The  Bible  the  great  instru- 
ment. Encouragements  to  action.  Rewards  of  a  life  well  spent. 
Conclusion. 350 


THE 


STUDENT'S    MANUAL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OBJECT  OF  STUDY.    INTRODUCTORY. 

THE  human  mind  is  the  brightest  display  of  the 
power  and  skill  of  the  Infinite  Mind  with  which  we 
are  acquainted.  It  is  created  and  placed  in  this  world 
to  be  educated  for  a  higher  state  of  existence.  Here 
its  faculties  begin  to  unfold,  and  those  mighty  ener- 
gies, which  are  to  bear  it  forward  to  unending  ages, 
begin  to  discover  themselves.  The  object  of  training 
such  a  mind  should  be,  to  enable  the  soul  to  fulfil  her 
duties  well  here,  and  to  stand  on  high  vantage-ground, 
when  she  leaves  this  cradle  of  her  being,  for  an  eter- 
nal existence  beyond  the  grave. 

There  is  now  and  then  a  youth,  who,  like  Fergu- 
son, can  tend  sheep  in  the  field,  and  there  accurately 
mark  the  position  of  the  stars,  with  a  thread  and  beads, 
and  with  his  knife  construct  a  watch  from  wood ;  but 
such  instances  are  rare.  Most  need  encouragement  to 
sustain,  instruction  to  aid,  and  directions  to  guide  them. 


14  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Why  so  little  accomplished.        Want  of  experience  in  the  student. 

Few,  probably,  ever  accomplish  any  thing  like  as 
much  as  they  expected  or  ought ;  and  I  have  thought 
that  one  reason  is,  that  students  waste  a  vast  amount 
of  time  in  acquiring  that  experience  which  they  need. 
As  I  look  back  upon  the  days  when  I  was  a  "  student," 
1  can  see  that  here  I  went  wrong,  and  there  1  mistook ; 
here  I  missed  a  golden  opportunity,  and  there  I  ac- 
quired a  wrong  habit,  or  received  a  wrong  bias ;  and  as 
I  sometimes  walk  past  a  college,  as  it  is  lighted  up  for 
evening-study,  I  pause,  and  sigh,  that  I  cannot  go  back 
and  begin  life  again,  carrying  with  me  my  present 
experience.  I  think,  too,  I  can  see,  that  if  there  had 
been  such  a  book  as  I  am  now  attempting  to  write  for 
students,  put  into  my  hands  at  an  early  period,  it 
would  have  been  of  incalculable  advantage  to  me.  I 
have  strong  hopes  of  saying  what  will  be  useful,  in- 
asmuch as  I  shall  principally  draw  from  my  own  expe- 
rience and  from  the  remembrance  of  my  own  wants. 

The  reader  will  please  to  bear  in  mind,  that  the 
only  object  I  have  in  view,  is  to  be  useful  to  him — 
to  throw  out  such  hints  and  cautions,  and  to  give  such 
specific  directions,  as  will  aid  him  to  become  all  that 
the  fond  hopes  of  his  friends  anticipate,  and  all  that 
his  own  heart  ought  to  desire. 

I  would  here  say  to  the  student,  that  the  character 
which  he  now  forms  and  sustains,  will  cling  to  him 
through  life.  Young  men  always  receive  impressions 
concerning  each  other  which  nothing  can  ever  efface. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  15 


Character  acquired  while  a  student. 


The  very  nicknames  which  are  given  at  this  period, 
and  which  are  generally  indicative  of  some  peculiar 
trait  of  character,  will  never  be  forgotten.  His  moral 
and  intellectual  character,  while  young,  is  that  by 
which  his  class-mates,  especially,  will  invariably  meas- 
ure him  through  life.  Is  he  unamiable  now,  or  indo- 
lent now,  or  vicious  now  ?  Depend  upon  it,  his  char- 
acter is  stamped,  and  no  subsequent  years  of  good- 
nature, or  of  application,  or  of  moral  worth,  can  ever 
do  away  the  impressions  which  he  is  now  making. 
Ask  any  educated  man  about  the  character  of  his 
fellow,  and  you  will  notice,  that  he  at  once  goes 
back  to  his  College-life,  and  dates  and  judges  from 
that  period.  Thus,  every  anecdote,  every  ludicrous 
circumstance,  whether  it  was  a  mistake  in  reciting,  or 
in  judgment,  or  in  moral  conduct,  will  be  repeated 
over  the  land,  and  his  frailties  will  be  known,  as 
widely  as  his  class  is  scattered. 

No  mistfke  can  be  more  decided  than  that  of  sup- 
posing that  you  are  now  retired  from  the  world,  have 
no  character  to  maintain,  and  no  responsibility  resting 
upon  you.  It  is  far  otherwise.  And  it  is  peculiarly 
trying,  that,  during  the  very  period  when  the  character 
is  forming,  it  is  viewed  by  all  around  you  as  if  it 
were  already  and  unalterably  formed,  and  judged  of 
accordingly.  He,  who  now  sits  j^jj  your  side  in  the 
•  recitation-room,  has  every  trait  of  your  character  ex- 
posed to  his  view ;  and  he  will  remember  every  trait, 


16  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Responsibility  as  to  character.  For  whom  writing. 

and  he  will  mark  you  through  life,  at  the  place  where 
you  now  stand.  Never,  in  fact,  does  so  great  a  re- 
sponsibility rest  upon  you,  as  while  a  student ;  because 
you  are  now  forming  your  character  and  habits,  and 
setting  your  standard ;  and  because,  also,  your  contem- 
poraries will  seldom,  if  ever,  alter  their  judgment  con- 
cerning you.  If  you  are  stupid  and  inaccurate  during 
this  period,  though  you  should  hereafter  write  dic- 
tionaries, and  edit  classics,  and  dream  in  foreign  lan- 
guages, I  very  much  doubt  whether  your  friend,  now 
at  your  elbow,  would  ever  give  you  credit  for  any  thing 
higher  than  dullness. 

Doubtless  multitudes  are  now  in  the  process  of 
education,  who  will  never  reach  any  tolerable  stand- 
ard of  excellence.  Probably  some  never  could  ;  but 
in  most  cases  they  might.  The  exceptions  are  few ; 
and  probably  most,  who  read  these  pages,  do  feel  a 
desire,  more  or  less  strong,  of  fitting  themselves  for 
respectability  and  usefulness.  They  are,  however, 
ignorant  of  the  way ;  they  are  surrounded  by  tempta- 
tions and  dangers;  they  soon  forget  the  encourage- 
ments, and  thus  oscillate  between  hope  and  fear,  res- 
olution and  discouragement.  It  is  for  such  that  I 
write.  And  such  I  earnestly  entreat  not  to  lay  aside 
this  little  book  till  they  have  read  it,  weighed  it,  and, 
if  they  please,  called  the  writer  whatever  hard  names 
occur  to  them.  My  pen  will  probably  sometimes 
seem  dull ;  but  if  it  should,  I  hope  I  may  apologize  for 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  17 

Frigate  Constitution  in  a  storm  at  sea. 

it  as  the  knight  did  for  his  slow-pacing  horse  : — "  Hee 
Is  a  rite  gude  creetur,  and  travels  all  the  ground  over 
most  faithfully." 

"  When  I  turned  in  at  night,  the  sea  was  smooth  and 
bright  as  a  mirror  ;  the  vast  firmament  seemed  to  de- 
scend below  us ;  the  ship  appeared  to  be  suspended 
in  the  centre  of  an  immense  sphere,  and,  if  I  may  say 
so,  one  felt,  in  awe  and  silence,  the  majesty  of  space. 
The  sails  hung  idly  by  the  mast,  and  the  officers' 
tread  along  the  deck  was  the  only  sound  heard.  So 
I  left  them. 

"About  midnight,  I  was  awakened  by  a  heavy  swing 
of  my  cot,  succeeded  by  a  sudden  dash  to  the  other 
side :  the  water  was  pouring  into  our  room,  and  I 
could  hear  its  rush  across  the  upper  decks,  where  all 
was  noise  and  rapid  motion.  I  hurried  on  my  clothes, 
and  ran  up :  the  gun-deck  was  clear ;  hammocks  had 
already  been  lashed  up  and  stowed ;  it  was  lighted  up, 
and  showed  it  flooded  in  its  whole  extent.  I  ascend- 
ed to  the  next :  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents,  but  I 
did  not  feel  it,  so  deeply  absorbing  was  the  scene.  I 
wish  I  could  describe  it.  The  sky  was  in  a  constant 
blaze ;  the  sea  was  not  high,  but  broken,  confused 
and  foaming,  and  taking  from  the  lightning  an  un- 
natural hue.  Above  me  were  the  yards  covered  with 
human  beings,  thrown  by  each  flash  into  strong  out- 
line, struggling  hard  to  secure  the  canvass  and  to 
maintain  their  precarious  footing.  The  ship  rolled 
2 


18  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Presence  of  mind. 

tremendously.  And  now  add  the  wild  uproar  of  the 
elements,  '  the  noise  of  many  waters,'  the  deep  and 
constant  roar  of  the  winds,  the  cries  of  the  men  aloft, 
the  heavy  and  rapid  tread  of  those  below,  the  reite- 
rated commands  of  officers,  and,  rising  above  all  this, 
the  firm  and  composed  orders  of  the  trumpet,  and 
then  add  to  this  the  heavy-rolling  thunder,  at  times 
drowning  all  these  sounds.  The  first  lieutenant  had 
the  deck :  he  had  sprung  to  jt  at  the  first  alarm,  and, 
seizing  the  trumpet,  had  called  Black,  his  favorite 
helmsman.  The  ship  was  soon  under  snug  sail,  and 
now  dashed  onward  at  a  furious  rate,  giving  to  the 
gale  a  yet  wilder  character. 

"All  at  once  a  rocky  island  seemed  to  start  up  from 
the  water ;  but  the  next  broad  flash  showed  a  good  off- 
ing, and  we  were  safe;  when  suddenly  came  a  loud  shout 
from  the  forecastle — •'  A  sail  close  on  the  larboard  bow, 
sir.'  I  trembled  then — not  for  ourselves,  for  we 
should  have  gone  over  them,  and  have  scarcely  felt 
the  shock — but  for  the  poor  wretches  whom  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  save.  The  helm  was  put 
hard  down :  we  shot  by,  and  I  again  breathed  freely, 
when  some  one  bade  me  look  up  to  our  spars.  I  did 
so,  and  found  every  upper  yard-arm  and  mast  tipped 
with  lightning.  Each  blaze  was  twice  as  large  as 
that  of  a  candle ;  and  thus  we  flew  on,  with  the  ele- 
ments of  destruction  playing  above  our  heads." 

any  one  read  this  beautiful  description  of  one 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  19 

The  helmsman.  Inference. 

of  our  own  proud  ships  in  a  storm,  and  fail  to  reflect, 
that  discipline  is  the  life  and  salvation  of  such  a  ship 
in  such  a  storm  ?  But  I  have  copied  it  for  a  different 
purpose ;  and  that  is,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  reader 
a  single  moment  to  the  "helmsman  Black."  Can 
there  be  a  doubt  but  the  sailor  who  couK1  take  the 
helm  in  these  circumstances,  and  hold  the  tuip  firmly 
on  her  course  amid  the  storm,  shunning  rocks,  and 
just  shooting  by  smaller  vessels,  must  have  courage, 
presence  of  mind,  and  great  promptness  of  character? 
Or  can  there  be  a  doubt,  but,  if  he  had  been  properly 
educated  when  young,  he  might  have  stood  in  the 
lieutenant's  place,  and  held  the  trumpet,  or  even  com- 
manded the  ship  ?  It  is  my  earnest  wish  to  aid  such 
as  have  capacity,  in  seizing  the  present  moment,  and, 
while  they  have  the  opportunity,  in  so  laying  their 
plans,  and  in  so  forming  their  habits,  as  to  make  the 
most  of  all  their  endowments.  There  are,  doubtless, 
some  who  will  read  these  pages  without  benefit. 
May  I  suggest  a  possible  reason  ?  "A  mole,  having 
consulted  many  oculists  for  the  benefit  of  his  sight, 
was  at  last  provided  with  a  good  pair  of  spectacles ; 
but,  upon  his  endeavoring  to  make  use  of  them,  his 
mother  told  him,  that,  though  they  might  help  the 
eye  of  a  man,  they  could  be  of  no  use  to  a  mole." 

You  may  converse  with  any  man,  however  distin- 
guished for,  attainments  or  habits  of  application,  or 
power  of  using  what  he  knows,  and  he  will  sigh  over 


20  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Time  and  opportunities  lost.         Savage  and  cultivated  mind  compared. 

the  remembrances  of  the  past,  and  tell  you,  that  there 
have  been  many  fragments  of  time  which  he  has 
wasted,  and  many  opportunities  which  he  has  lost 
forever.  If  he  had  only  seized  upon  the  fleeting  ad- 
vantages, and  gathered  up  the  fragments  of  time,  he 
might  have  pushed  his  researches  out  into  new  fields, 
and,  like  the  immortal  , Bacon,  have  amassed  vast 
stores  of  knowledge.  The  mighty  minds  which  have 
gone  before  us,  have  left  treasures  for  our  inher- 
itance, and  the  choicest  gold  is  to  be  had  for  the 
digging.  How  great  the  dissimilarity  between  a  na- 
ked Indian,  dancing  with  joy  over  a  new  feather  for 
his  head-dress,  and  such  a  mind  as  that  of  Newton  or 
of  Boyle  !  And  what  makes  the  difference  ?  There 
is  mind  enough  in  the  savage ;  he.  can  almost  outdo 
the  instincts  of  the  prey  which  he  hunts  ;  but  his 
soul  is  like  the  marble  pillar.  There  is  a  beautiful 
statue  in  it,  but  the  hand  of  the  sculptor  has  never 
laid  the  chisel  upon  it.  That  mind  of  the  savage  has 
never  been  disciplined  by  study ;  and  it,  therefore,  in 
the  comparison,  appears  like  the  rough  bison  of  the 
forest,  distinguished  only  for  strength  and  ferocity. 

I  am  not  now  to  discuss  the  question  whether  the 
souls  of  men  are  naturally  equal.  If  they  are,  it  is 
certain  that,  though  the  fact  were  proved^-jt  would  be 
of  little  practical  use,  since  the  organization  of  bodies 
is  so  different,  that  no  training  can  make  them  alike. 
But  this,  I  think,  may  safely  be  affirmed,  that  every 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


All  capable  of  excelling.       Clavius.     The  boy  on  the  top  of  the  steeple. 

one  has  naturally  the  power  of  excelling  in  some  one 
thing.  You  may  not  excel  in  mathematics,  or  as  a 
writer,  or  a  speaker  ;  but  I  honestly  believe  that  every 
one  of  my  readers  is  capable  of  excelling  in  some  de- 
partment, and  will  surely  do  so,  if  faithful  to  himself. 

There  was  once  a  boy*  put  under  the  care  of  the 
Jesuits,  who  was  noted  for  nothing  but  his  stupidity. 
These  teachers  tried  him  abundantly,  and  could  make 
nothing  of  him.  How  little  did  they  think  that  the 
honor  of  being  his  instructers  was  to  raise  their  order 
in  view  of  the  world  !  At  length,  one  of  the  fathers 
tried  him  in  geometry,  which  so  suited  his  genius, 
that  he  became  one  of  the  first  mathematicians  of  his 
age.  Marcus,  the  sou  of  Cicero,  was  sent  to  Athens, 
and  had  all  the  first  masters  that  could  be  procured ; 

and  he  made  a  perfect blockhead.  And  yet  I 

feel  confident,  that,  had  the  right  place  been  found  for 
him,  he  would  have  been  more  than  respectable  in  it. 
Non  omnes  omnia  possumus. 

I  once  saw  a  little  boy,  on  a  public  occasion,  while 
thousands  were  gazing  at  him  with  unaffected  aston- 
ishment, climb  the  lightning-rod  on  the  lofty  spire  of 
a  meeting-house.  The  wind  blew  high,  and  the  rod 
shook  and  trembled;  but  up  he  went,  till  he  had 
reached  the  vane,  195  feet  high.  All,  every  moment, 
expected  to  see  him  fall.  But  what  was  our  amaze- 

*  Clavius,  who  died  1613,  aged  75.  His  works  were  in  5  vols. 
folio,  and  greatly  admired. 


22  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Eccentricities  of  character.       Folly  of  expecting  to  be  a  genius. 

ment  to  see  him  mount  the  vane,  and  place  his  little 
feet  upon  it,  throwing  his  arms  aloft  in  the  air,  and 
turning  round,  as  the  wind  turned  his  shaking  foot-hold  ! 
He  stood  there  till  weary,  and  came  down  at  his  lei- 
sure. Here  was  a  mind  capable,  I  doubt  not,  of  high 
enterprise.  And  yet  he  has  never  been  heard  of  since. 
And  why  not  ?  Either  his  mind  has  not  been  culti- 
vated, or  else  his  genius  has  been  bent  out  of  its  prop- 
er channel.  I  will  just  add,  that  the  poor  boy  was 
fined  for  setting  so  dangerous  an  example  before  the 
boys  who  saw  him ;  but  I  could  not  help  wishing  that, 
while  they  sought  to  restrain  him  from  such  physical 
daring,  they  had  been  as  careful  to  direct  his  fearless 
genius  in  a  proper  channel. 

I  perceive  I  have  used  a  dangerous  word,  though 
of  great  antiquity.  The  word  is  genius.  Many  train 
themselves  into  habits  of  eccentricity  and  oddity,  and 
suppose  these  inseparable  from  genius.  There  are 
some  men  who  think  nothing  so  characteristic  of 
genius,  as  to  do  common  things  in  an  uncommon  way 
— like  Hudibras,  to  tell  the  clock  by  algebra,  or  like 
the  lady  in  Dr.  Young's  Satires,  "  to  drink  tea  by 
stratagem."  Dean  Swift,  in  his  celebrated  Travels, 
found  whole  nations  of  these  geniuses,  and  tells  us 
that  he  observed  a  tailor,  with  a  customer  before  him, 
whose  measure  for  a  coat  he  was  taking  with  a  quad- 
rant !  Never  set  up  any  pretensions  for  a  genius,  nor 
lay  claim  to  the  character.  But  few  such  are  born 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  23 

Education  must  be  your  own  work. 

into  the  world ;  and  of  those  few,  though  envied 
greatly,  and  imitated  as  greatly,  but  very  few,  indeed, 
leave  the  world  wiser  or  better  than  they  found  it. 
The  object  of  hard  study  is  not  to  draw  out  geniuses, 
but  to  take  minds  such  as  are  formed  in  a  common 
mould,  and  fit  them  for  active  and  decisive  usefulness. 
Nothing  is  so  much  coveted  by  a  young  man  as  the 
reputation  of  being  a  genius  ;  and  many  seem  to  feel 
that  the  want  of  patience  for  laborious  application  and 
deep  research,  is  such  a  mark  of  genius  as  cannot  be 
mistaken :  while  a  real  genius,  like  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton, with  great  modesty  says,  that  the  great  and  only 
difference  between  his  mind  and  the  minds  of  others, 
consisted  solely  in  his  having  more  patience.  You 
may  have  a  good  mind,  a  sound  judgment,  or  a  vivid 
imagination,  or  a  wide  reach  of  thought  and  of  views ; 
but,  believe  me,  you  probably  are  not  a  genius,  and 
can  never  become  distinguished  without  severe  appli- 
cation. Hence  all  that  you  ever  have,  must  be  the 
result  of  labor — hard,  untiring  labor.  You  have 
friends  to  cheer  you  on  ;  you  have  books  and  teach- 
ers to  aid  you,  and  multitudes  of  helps.  But,  after 
all,  disciplining  and  educating  your  mind  must  be  your 
own  work.  No  one  can  do  this  but  yourself.  And 
nothing  in  this  world  is  of  any  worth,  which  has  not 
labor  and  toil  as  its  price.  The  zephyrs  of  summer 
can  but  seldom  breathe  around  you.  "  I  foresee,  dis- 
tinctly, that  you  will  have  to  double  Cape  Horn  in 


24  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Tomaso  Anello,  the  fisher-boy. 

the  winter-season,  and  to  grapple  with  the  gigantic 
spirit  of  the  storm  which  guards  the  cape  ;  and  I  fore- 
see, as  distinctly,  that  it  will  depend  entirely  on  your 
own  skill  and  energy,  whether  you  survive  the  fearful 
encounter,  and  live  to  make  a  port  in  the  mild  lati- 
tudes of  the  Pacific."  * 

Johnson  asserts,  that,  if  any  one  would  be  master 
of  the  English  language,  he  must  give  his  days  and 
nights  to  the  reading  of  Addison.  It  is  still  more 
emphatically  true,  that,  if  any  one  would  be  distin- 
guished, he  must  labor  for  it.  There  is  no  real  ex- 
cellence without  patient  study.  Those  who  have 
now  and  then  risen  upon  the  world,  without  education* 
and  without  study,  have  shed  but  a  doubtful  light,  and 
that  but  for  a  moment.  Many  a  youth  has  kindled 
at  the  story  of  TOMASO  ANELLO,  who  was  one  day 
hawking  fish  through  the  streets  of  Naples,  and  the 
next  was  master  of  armies  and  fleets,  and  made  his 
will  the  rule  for  an  empire.  The  army  obeyed  him  ; 
the  banditti  quailed  before  him  ;  and  never  was  a  man 
more  absolute  in  his  will.  But  his  short  reign  of  nine 
days  was  marked  with  great  folly,  cruelty,  and  despot- 
ism ;  and  such  examples  must  ever  stand  before  the 
world  as  among  the  possible  things ;  but  also  among 
the  improbable,  and  still  more  undesirable. 

Set  it  down  as  a  fact,  to  which  there  are  no  excep- 
tions, that  we  must  labor  for  all  that  we  have,  and 

•Wirt. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  25 

No  excellence  without  toil.        The-ocean  insect.        The  motto. 

that  nothing  is  worth  possessing  or  offering  to  others, 
which  cost  us  nothing.  Gilbert  Wakefield  tells  us, 
that  he  wrote  his  own  Memoirs  (a  large  octavo)  in 
six  or  eight  days.  It  cost  him  nothing  ;  and,  what  is 
very  natural,  it  is  worth  nothing.  You  might  yawn 
scores  of  such  books  into  existence  ;  but  who  would 
be  the  wiser  or  the  better  ?  We  all  like  gold,  but 
dread  the  digging.  The  cat  loves  the  fish,  but  will 
not  wade  to  catch  them  ; — amat  pisces,  sed  non  vult 
tingere  plantas. 

Those  islands  which  so  beautifully  adorn  the  Pa- 
cific, and  which,  but  for  sin,  would  seem  so  many 
Edens,  were  reared  up  from  the  bed  of  the  ocean  by 
the  little  coral-insect,  which  deposits  one  grain  of 
sand  at  a  time,  till  the  whole  of  those  piles  are  reared 
up.  Just  so  with  human  exertions.  The  greatest 
results  of  the  mind  are  produced  by  small,  but  contin- 
ued efforts.  I  have  frequently  thought  of  the  motto 
of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  in  this  coun- 
try, as  peculiarly  appropriate.  As  near  as  I  remem- 
ber, it  is  the  picture  of  a  mountain,  with  a  man  at  its 
base,  with  his  hat  and  coat  lying  beside  him,  and  a 
pickaxe  in  his  hand  ;  and  as  he  digs,  stroke  by  stroke, 
his  patient  look  corresponds  with  his  words, — Pen  et 
pen — "  Little  by  little." 

The  first,  and  great  object  of  education  is,  to  disci- 
pline the  mind.  It  is  naturally,  like  the  colt,  wild  and 


26  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  object  of  education.  A  shrewd  suspicion. 

ungoverned.  Let  any  man,  who  has  not  subdued  his 
mind,  more  or  less,  by  close  thought,  sit  down  and 
take  hold  of  a  subject,  and  try  to  "  think  it  out." 
The  result  will  be,  that  he  Cannot  hold  his  thoughts 
upon  the  point.  They  fly  off — they  wander  away. 
He  brings  them  back,  and  determines  now  to  hold  his 
attention  there ;  when,  at  once,  ere  he  knows  how,  he 
again  finds  himself  away.  The  process  is  repeated, 
till  he  gives  it  up  in  discouragement,  or  else  goes  to 
sleep.  I  once  heard  a  young  man  complaining  that 
he  could  not  keep  his  mind  fixed  on  a  point.  "  It 
rolled  off  like  a  barrel  from  a  pin ; "  and  he  gave  some 
hints  that  possibly  it  might  be  that  his  mind  was  so 
great !  His  gravity  altogether  exceeded  that  of  his 
associates,  to  whom  he  was  giving  the  explanation. 
How  many  great  minds  would  there  be,  if  such  indi- 
cations were  to  be  relied  on  ! 

In  the  period  which  belongs  to  you  as  a  student, 
then,  it  is  not  important  that  you  should  try  to  lay  up 
a  vast  amount  of  information.  Under  the  chapter  on 
reading,  I  shall  hope  to  throw  out  such  hints  as  will 
enable  you  to  save  what  you  do  read.  The  object 
now  is,  to  fit  the  mind  for  future  acquisitions  and  fu- 
ture usefulness.  The  magazine  will  be  filled  soon 
enough ;  and  we  need  not  be  too  anxious  to  fill  it 
while  we  are  getting  it  ready  for  use.  I  am  desirous 
that  you  have  it  strongly  impressed  on  the  memory 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  27 

Improve  through  life.  Concentration  of  thought. 

that  the  great  object  now  is,  to  set  the  mind  out  on  a 
course  which  she  can  successfully  pursue  herself,  and 
that,  too,  through  life. 

You  must  calculate  to  improve  through  life ;  and, 
therefore,  now  try  to  form  habits  of  study,  and  learn 
how  to  study  to  advantage.  "  Newton  was  in  his 
eighty-fifth  year  improving  his  Chronology  ;  and  Wal- 
ler, at  eighty-two,  is  thought  to  have  lost  none  of  his 
poetical  fire." 

Make  it  the  first  object  to  be  able  to  fix  and  hold 
your  attention  upon  your  studies.  He  who  can  do  this, 
has  mastered  many  and  great  difficulties  ;  and  he  who 
cannot  do  it,  will  in  vain  look  for  success  in  any  de- 
partment of  study.  "  To  effect  any  purpose  in  study, 
the  mind  must  be  concentrated.  If  -any  other  object 
plays  on  the  fancy  than  that  which  ought  to  be  ex- 
clusively before  it,  the  mind  is  divided,  and  both  are 
neutralized,  so  as  to  lose  their  effect — just  as  when 
I  learned  two  systems  of  short-hand :  I  was  familiar 
with  Gurney's  method,  and  wrote  it  with  ease ;  but 
when  I  took  it  into  my  head  to  learn  Byrom's,  they 
destroyed  each  other,  and  I  could  write  neither." 
What  is  commonly  called  abstraction  in  study,  is 
nothing  more  than  having  the  attention  so  completely 
occupied  with  the  subject  in  hand,  that  the  mind  takes 
notice  of  nothing  without  itself.  One  of  the  greatest 
minds  which  this,  or  any  other  country,  ever  produ- 
ced, has  been  known  to  be  so  engrossed  in  thinking  on 


28  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL 

Example  of  abstraction.  Necessity  of  attention. 

a  particular  subject,  that  his  horse  has  waded  through 
the  corner  of  a  pond,  yet,  though  the  water  covered 
the  saddle,  he  was  wholly  insensible  to  the  cause  of 
his  being  wet.  I  mention  this,  not  to  recommend  such 
an  abstraction,  but  to  show,  that  he  who  has  his  atten- 
tion fixed,  and  the  power  of  fixing  it  when  he  pleases, 
will  be  successful  in  study.  Need  I  say  here,  that 
you  can  never  command  the  attention,  if  you  are  in 
the  habit  of  yielding  to  your  appetites  and  passions  ? 
"  No  man,"  says  one  who  knew,  "  whose  appetites 
are  his  masters,  can  perform  the  duties  of  his  nature 
with  strictness  and  regularity.  He  that  would  be  su- 
perior to  external  influence,  must  first  become  superior 
to  his  own  passions."  Why  does  the  boy,  who  has  a 
large  sum  upon  his  slate,  scowl,  and  rub  out,  and  be- 
gin again,  and  grow  discouraged?  Because  he  has 
not  yet  learned  to  command  his  attention.  He  was 
going  on  well,  when  some  new  thought  flashed  into 
his  mind,  or  some  new  object  caught  his  eye,  and  he 
lost  the  train  of  calculation.  Why  has  that  Latin  or 
Greek  word  so  puzzled  you  to  remember,  that  you 
have  had  to  look  it  out  in  your  dictionary  some  ten  or 
dozen  times  ?  And  why  do  you  now  look  at  it  as  at 
a  stranger,  whose  name  you  ought  to  know,  but  which 
you  cannot  recall  ?  Because  you  have  not  yet  ac- 
quired fully  the  power  of  fixing  your  attention.  That 
word  would  have  been  remembered  long  since,  if  it 
had  not  passed  as  a  shadow  before  your  mind  when 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  29 

Example.  Demosthenes. 

you  looked  at  it.  A  celebrated  authoress,  who  states 
that  she  reserves  all  her  i's  to  be  dotted,  and  her  t'« 
to  be  crossed,  on  some  sick  day,  might  have  given  a 
more  philosophical  reason  ;  and  that  is,  that  she  could 
not  bear  to  have  her  attention  interrupted  a  single 
moment,  when  writing  with  the  most  success. 

The  difficulty  of  confining  the  attention  is  probably 
the  secret  of  the  plan  of  Demosthenes,  who  shut  him- 
self up  in  his  celebrated  dark  cave  for  study ;  and 
this  will  account  for  the  fact,  that  a  person  who  is  un- 
expectedly deprived  of  the  use  of  his  eyes,  will  not 
unfrequently  make  advances  in  thought,  and  show  a 
strength  of  mind,  unknown  before.  I  have  frequently 
seen  boys  take  their  books  on  a  summer's  day,  and 
flee  from  their  room  to  the  grove,  and  from  the  grove 
back  again,  full  of  uneasiness,  and  in  vain  hoping  that 
changing  the  place  would  give  them  some  new  power 
over  the  roving  attention,  and  that  indescribable  rest- 
lessness, so  inseparable  from  the  early  efforts  to  sub- 
due the  mind.  It  is  all  in  vain.  You  cannot  fly  from 
yourself;  and  the  best  way  is  to  sit  directly  down  in 
your  room,  and  there  command  your  attention  to  fix 
itself  upon  the  hard,  dry  lesson,  and  master  it ;  and, 
when  you  have  thus  Drought  this  rover  to  obey  you 
once,  he  will  be  more  ready  to  obey  the  next  time. 
Attention  will  more  readily  come  at  your  call  to- 
morrow than  to-day. 

Patience  is  a  virtue  kindred  to  attention ;  and  with- 


30  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Patience.  Mistaken  views  on  this  subject. 

out  it,  the  mind  cannot  be  said  to  be  disciplined.  Pa- 
tient labor  and  investigation  are  not  only  essential  to 
success  in  study,  but  are  an  unfailing  guarantee  to 
success.  The  young  man  is  in  danger  of  feeling  "  that 
he  will  strike  out  something  new.  His  spirits  are 
buoyant  and  his  hopes  sanguine."  He  knows  not  the 
mortified  feeling  of  being  repeatedly  defeated  by  him- 
self. He  will  burst  upon  the  world  at  once,  and 
strike  the  blows  of  a  giant,  while  his  arm  is  that  of  a 
child.  He  is  not  to  toil  up  the  hill,  and  wait  for  years 
of  self-discipline,  close,  patient  study,  and  hard  labor — 
not  he ;  but  before  you  know  it,  he  will  be  on  the 
heights  of  the  highest  Alps,  with  a  lofty  feeling,  look- 
ing down  upon  the  creepers  below.  Hence,  multi- 
tudes waste  life,  and  absolutely  fritter  away  their  ex- 
istence, in  doing  nothing,  except  waiting  for  a  golden 
opportunity  to  do  something  great  and  magnificent. 
Did  not  Patrick  Henry  burst  upon  the  world  at  once, 
and  at  once  exhibit  the  strength  of  a  giant  ?  If  he 
did,  he  is  no  specimen  of  ordinary  minds,  and  no  man 
has  a  right  to  presume  upon  any  thing  more  than  an 
intellect  of  ordinary  dimensions  as  his  own.  What 
multitudes  of  men  lie  still,  and  never  lift  the  pen,  be- 
cause the  time  is  not  come !  When  they  come  out, 
it  must  be  in  a  "  great  book,"  a  splendid  address,  or 
some  great  effort.  The  tree  must  not  be  allowed  to 
grow  by  inches;  no,  at  once  the  sapling  must  be 
loaded  with  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  threescore  years. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  31 

Benjamin  Franklin's  beginning.  Example  of  patience 

Alas !  trees  planted  and  watered  by  such  expecta- 
tions will  never  be  more  than  dwarfs.  Franklin  rose 
high,  and  his  name  is  engraven  deep  and  fair  on  the 
roll  of  immortality;  but  he  began  his  greatness  by 
making  an  almanac :  he  continued  to  make  it  for 
years,  and  rose,  step  by  step,  till  he  was  acknowledged 
at  the  head  of  modern  philosophers.  Every  young 
man  ought  to  remember  that  he  who  would  carry  the 
ox,  must  every  day  shoulder  the  calf.  Ferret  taurum 
qui  tulit  vitulam.  That  great  man,  who  returned  to 
his  study,  and,  finding  that  his  little  dog  had  turned 
over  the  table,  and  burned  up  the  papers  on  which 
he  had  been  engaged  for  years,  yet  calmly  said, 
"  You  have  done  me  a  great  mischief,  Diamond," 
showed  a  soul  truly  great ;  and  its  greatness,  in  this 
instance,  consisted  in  his  patience.  Without  a  mur- 
mur, he  sat  down,  and  began  to  do  over  the  same 
great  labor.  He  lived  to  complete  it ;  and  it  was  the 
admiration  of  the  learned  world.  Yet  how  few  have 
the  patience  thus  to  sit  down  and  labor  day  by  day 
for  years  !  It  is  neither  a  small  nor  an  easy  part  of 
education  to  cultivate  this  trait  of  character. 

The  student  should  learn  to  think  and  act  for  him- 
self. True  originality  consists  in  doing  things  well, 
and  doing  them  in  your  own  way.  A  mind  half- 
educated  is  generally  imitating  others.  "No  man 
was  ever  great  by  imitation."  One  great  reason  is, 
that  it  is  so  much  easier  to  copy  the  defects  and  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


Student  must  have  a  character  of  his  own.       Folly  of  being  an  imitator. 

objectionable  parts  of  a  great  man's  character,  than  to 
imitate  his  excellences,  that  we  gain  only  the  former. 
Alexander  the  Great  had  a  foolish  tutor,  who  used  to 
call  him  Achilles.  He  was  taught  to  admire  that 
character.  But  when  he  came  to  imitate  Achilles, 
what  did  he  do  ?  He  imitated  one  of  the  most  cruel 
and  detestable  actions  in  that  hero's  life.  He  dragged 
the  governor  of  a  town  through  the  streets  after  his 
chariot.  This  was  because  the  foolish  teacher  Ly- 
simachus  taught  him  to  imitate  as  well  as  admire.  It 
has  been  more  than  strongly  conjectured,  that  France 
murdered  her  king,  the  inoffensive  and  amiable 
Louis  XVI.,  because  England  once  beheaded  a 
king  !  Strange,  that  even  nations  cannot  become 
imitators  without  copying  that  which  is  atrocious  ! 
Not  a  few  waste  their  lives,  and  lose  all  discipline  and 
improvement,  by  an  insensible  and  unconscious  habit 
of  imitating  others.  Of  the  multitudes  who  imitated 
Johnson,  was  there  one  who  had  any  thing  more  than 
his  pompous,  inflated  language?  They  seemed  to 
feel  that  they  were  wielding  the  club  of  Hercules  ;  but 
the  club,  in  every  instance,  was  hollow,  and  the  blow 
resulted  in  nothing  but  sound.  Of  the  many  who 
tried  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  Byron,  is  there  one  who 
will  live  in  song  ?  Not  one.  They  could  copy  noth- 
ing but  his  measure  and  his  wickedness,  borrowing 
his  vileness  .without  his  genius.  The  lion  himself  is 
fast  turning  to  corruption,  but  no  honey  will  be  found 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  33 

Anecdote  of  Andrew  Fuller.  Greatness  not  to  be  copied. 

in  the  carcass ;  and  as  for  his  followers,  the  world  was 
relieved  from  their  curse  by  their  decaying  before 
they  could  taint  the  moral  atmosphere.  It  is  vastly 
more  easy  to  imitate  and  borrow,  both  matter  and  man- 
ner, than  to  have  them  of  your  own.  But  set  it 
down,  that  no  imitator  ever  reached  any  thing  like 
eminence.  You  must  have  a  character  of  your  own, 
and  rules  by  which  that  character  is  regulated.  It 
has  been  said  of  Franklin,  that  he  was  a  philosopher, 
because,  in  his  childhood,  he  formed  those  rules  which 
regulated  him  even  in  old  age.  "  My  father,"  says 
Andrew  Fuller,  "  was  a  farmer ;  and,  in  my  younger 
days,  it  was  a  great  boast  among  the  ploughmen  that 
they  could  plough  a  straight  line  across  the  furrows  or 
ridges  of  the  field.  I  thought  I  could  do  this  as  well 
as  any  of  them.  One  day,  I-saw  such  a  line,  which 
bad  just  been  drawn,  and  I  thought,  '  Now  I  have  it.' 
Accordingly  I  laid  hold  of  the  plough,  and,  putting 
one  of  the  horses  into  the  furrow  which  had  just  been 
made,  I  resolved  to  keep  him  walking  in  it,  and  thus 
secure  a  paralleUine.  By  and  by,  however,  I  ob- 
served that  there  were  what  might  be  termed  wriggles 
in  this  furrow ;  and  when  I  came  to  them,  they  turned 
out  to  be  larger  in  mine  than  in  the  original.  On 
perceiving  this,  I  threw  the  plough  aside,  and  determin- 
ed never  to  be  an  imitator."  Let  it  be  remembered  that 
we  cannot  copy  greatness  or  goodness  by  any  effort. 
We  must  acquire  it  by  our  own  patience  and  dili- 
3 


34  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  judgment  must  be  formed.  Wasting  life — remarkable  example 

gence.      Nil  sine    magno    vita    labore    dedit   mor- 
talibus. 

Another  object  of  study  is,  to  form  the  judgment,  so 
that  the  mind  can  not  only  investigate,  but  weigh  and 
balance  opinions    and   theories.      Without  this,  you 
will  never  be  able  to  decide  what  to  read  or  what  to 
throw  aside ;  what  author  to  distrust,  or  what  opinions 
to  receive.     Some  of  the  most  laborious  men,  and  dil- 
igent readers,  pass  through  life  without  accomplishing 
any  thing  desirable,  for  the  want  of  what  may  be 
called  a  well-balanced  judgment.     The  last   theory 
which  they  hear  "is  the  true  one,  however  deficient  as 
to  proof  from  facts ;  the  last  book  they  read  is  the 
most  wonderful,  though  it  may  be  worthless  ;  the  last 
acquaintance  is  the  most  valuable,  because  least  is 
known  about  him.     Hence  multitudes  of  objects  are 
pursued,  which   have  no  use  in   practical  life  ;  and 
there  is  a  laborious  trifling — operose  nihil  agenda — 
which  unfits   the  mind  for  any  thing  valuable.     It 
leads  to  a  wide  field,  which  is  barren  and  waste.     "  I 
once  saw  a  shepherd,"  says  an  Italian  author,  "  who 
used  to  divert  himself,  in  his  solitudes,  with  tossing  up 
eggs  and  catching  them  again  without  breaking  them ; 
in  which  he  had  arrived  to  so  great  a  degree  of  per- 
fection, that  he  would  keep  up/owr  at  a  time  for  sev- 
eral minutes  together,  playing  in  the  air  and  falling 
into  his  hands  by  turns.     I  think  I  never  saw  greater 
severity  than  in  this  man's  face ;  for,  by  his  wonder- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  35 

Second  example.  What  is  wanted. 

ful  perseverance  and  application,  he  had  contracted 
the  seriousness  and  gravity  of  a  privy-counsellor ;  and 
I  could  not  but  reflect  with  myself,  that  the  same  as- 
siduity and  attention,  had  they  been  rightly  applied; 
might  have  made  him  a  greater  mathematician  than 
Archimedes." 

I  have  known  a  boy- — and  such  cases  are  not  rare — 
spend  time  enough  in  learning  to  read  with  the  book 
bottom  upwards — which  he  did  with  great  fluency — 
to  have  made  him  acquainted  with  all  the  minutiae  of 
the  Latin  grammar.  This  is  not  merely  time  wasted, 
but  it  is  cultivating  a  taste  for  out-of-the-way  things 
and  useless  acquirements.  It  is  no  small  part  of  ed- 
ucation and  of  study,  to  know  what  you  do,  and  what 
you  do  not,  wish  to  know. 

If,  by  any  thing  I  have  said,  an  impression  has  been 
made  that  I  do  not  deem  it  necessary  for  a  man  to  be 
familiar  with  a  wide  circle  of  knowledge,  in  order  to 
become  known,  influential,  and  useful,  I  trust  such  an 
impression  will  be  corrected  before  the  reader  closes 
this  book.  What  I  wish  to  say  here,  is,  that  the  great 
object  of  the  student  is,  to  prepare  his  mind  to  use 
materials  which  may  hereafter  be  gathered ;  but  not 
now  to  gather  them.  One  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  this  age  and  nation,  whose  voice  has  been 
heard  in  lands  distant  from  ours,  is  said  to  be  remark- 
able for  this  faculty — that,  when  he  wants  informa- 
tion on  any  subject,  he  seems  to  know,  intuitively,  who 


36  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Good  habit.         Example.         The  mind  will  bear  hard  usage. 

and  what  shall  be  laid  under  immediate  tribute.  He 
does  not  pore  over  all  that  this  or  that  man  has  writ- 
ten, but  gets  light  from  all  quarters,  and  then,  like  the 
burning-glass,  condenses  and  brings  to  a  focus  all  the 
light  and  heat  which  are  necessary  to  consume  obsta- 
cles and  objections.  Such  a  habit  is  worth  all  the 
scraps  of  learning  and  information  which  could  be  laid 
up  in  a  mind  which  knows  of  no  use  in  knowledge 
but  the  pleasure  which  it  affords  while  in  the  act  of 
acquiring. 

The  great  instrument  of  affecting  the  world  is  the 
mind ;  and  no  instrument  is  so  decidedly  and  contin- 
ually improved  by  exercise  and  use,  as  the  mind. 
Many  seem  to  feel  as  if  it  were  not  safe  to  put  forth 
all  their  powers  at  one  effort.  You  must  reserve  your 
strength  for  great  occasions,  just  as  you  would  use 
your  horse — moderately  and  carefully  on  common  oc- 
casions, but  give  him  the  spur  on  occasions  of  great 
emergency.  This  might  be  well,  were  the  mind,  in 
any  respect,  like  the  bones  and  muscles  of  the  horse. 
Some,  when  they  are  contriving  to  see  how  little 
mental  effort  will  answer,  and  how  far  and  wide  a  few 
feeble  thoughts  may  be  spread,  seem  more  like  stu- 
dents than  at  any  other  time — as  if  it  were  danger- 
ous to  task  the  mind  too  often,  lest  her  stores  be  ex- 
hausted, or  her  faculties  become  weakened.  The 
bow  may  be  but  half  bent,  lest  it  be  overstrained,  and 
lose  its  powe  .  But  you  need  have  no  such  fears. 


V 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  37 

Continued  efforts.  Hamilton.  President  Porter. 

You  may  call  upon  your  mind,  to-day,  for  its  highest 
efforts,  and  stretch  it  to  the  utmost  in  your  power,  and 
you  have  done  yourself  a  kindness.  The  mind  will 
be  all  the  better  for  it.  To-morrow  you  may  do  it 
again ;  and  each  time  it  will  answer  more  readily  to 
your  calls. 

But  remember  that  real  discipline  of  mind  does  not 
so  much  consist  in  now  and  then  making  a  great  effort, 
as  in  having  the  mind  so  trained  that  it  will  make 
constant  efforts.  Gutta  cavat  lapidem,  non  vi,  sed 
scepe  ccedendo.  If  you  would  have  the  discipline  any 
thing  like  perfect,  it  must  be  unremitted;  the  mind 
must  be  kept  clear  and  shrewd.  It  is  told  of  our 
gifted,  but  infatuated  HAMILTON,  that,  during  the  pe- 
riods in  which  the  powers  of  his  mind  were  put  to 
the  highest  and  severest  exercise,  he  regularly  read 
Euclid  through  once  a  month.  The  Federalist  will 
tell  the  rest. 

The  perfection  of  a  disciplined  mind  is,  not  to  be 
able,  on  some  great  contingency,  to  rouse  up  its  facul- 
ties, and  draw  out  a  giant  strength,  but  to  have  it 
always  ready  to  produce  a  given  and  an  equal  quanti- 
ty of  results  in  a  given  and  equal  time.  This  was 
the  glory  of  the  mind  of  Isaac  Newton  ;  and  the  late 
venerated  Porter,  of  Andover,  could,  in  any  given 
hour,  or  day,  or  week,  produce  as  finished  and  as 
ample  results,  as  if  he  should  wait  for  "  some  happy 
hours  of  thought."  He  who  trains  his  mind  to  go  by 


THE   STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 


The  two  monks. 


impulses,  and  must  wait  for  them,  will  accomplish  but 
very  little  during  his  life. 

Two  monks  live  near  each  other  at  the  same  time. 
They  both  profess  to  be  students.  Only  one,  howev- 
er, does  any  thing  towards  disciplining  his  mind.  One 
uses  language  and  lamentations  as  follows  : — "  They 
have  invented  a  new  language,  which  they  call  Greek ; 
you  must  be  carefully  on  your  guard  against  it ;  it  is 
the  matter  of  all  heresy.  I  observe  in  the  hands  of 
many  persons  a  book  written  in  that  language,  and 
which  they  call  the  New  Testament.  It  is  a  book 
full  of  daggers  and  poison.  As  to  the  Hebrew,  my 
dear  brethren,  it  is  certain  that  whoever  learns  it  be- 
comes immediately  a  Jew."  The  other  monk  seizes 
the  New  Testament,  and  applies  his  habits  of  study 
and  of  diligence  to  it ;  and  with  that  Bible  he  shakes 
all  Europe ;  he  shakes  the  world,  and,  in  a  day,  opens 
upon  Christendom  the  light  of  thousands  of  years. 
Need  I  say,  I  mean  Martin  Luther  ?  Nothing  but  his 
disciplined  mind,  and  his  habits  of  using  that  instru- 
ment, could  have  led  him  through  the  thick  darkness 
which  surrounded  him,  to  the  clear  light  in  which  we 
see  him. 

The  study  of  human  nature  is  a  very  important  part 
of  education.  I  know  it  is  thought  by  some,  nay,  by 
many,  that  no  one  can  understand  men  but  those  who 
are  moving,  and  acting,  and  crowding  among  them. 
I  grant  that  such  a  one  is  the  only  man  who  knows 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  39 

Knowledge  of  human  nature  necessary.        Jonathan  Edwards. 

the  forms  and  modes  of  doing  business.  But  if  the 
student  has  not,  at  the  close  of  his  academical  course, 
a  deep  and  thorough  insight  into  the  nature  of  man,  it 
is  his  own  fault,  or  the  fault  of  his  instructors.  Men 
in  active  life  will  judge  very  accurately  as  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  you  may  expect  men  to  act  in  such  and 
such  circumstances ;  but  though,  in  these  respects, 
their  conclusions  are  accurate,  yet  they  see  not  the 
motives  of  action,  and  look  not  so  deeply  into  the 
soul,  as  the  accurate  student.  Let  a  man  in  active 
life  undertake  to  probe  the  conscience  of  an  audience  ; 
he  may  have  this  and  that  fact,  but  can  he  do  it  as 
effectually  as  he  who  has  read  human  nature,  and  pon- 
dered over  it,  in  all  its  recesses  and  windings,  in  his 
study  ?  Few  men  ever  lived  who  moved  among  men 
so  little  as  Jonathan  Edwards.  But  did  he  not  under- 
stand human  nature  ?  Can  any  one  read  his  writings, 
and  doubt,  for  a  moment,  that  he  knew  most  accurate- 
ly what  the  nature  of  man  is  ?  When  such  a  mind 
pours  out  its  strength  upon  the  world,  it  does  not  make 
mistakes  as  to  the  principles  of  action.  He  might 
mistake  in  purchasing  a  horse,  or  a  coat,  for  he  never 
attended  to  such  small  matters ;  but  a  surgeon  never 
dissected  the  body  with  more  accuracy  and  skill  than 
he  does  the  soul  of  man.  It  is  a  tradition  that  Ed- 
wards knew  not  his  own  cows ;  but,  in  the  world  of 
active,  driving,  bargain-making  men,  you  will  never 
find  one  who  understands  human  nature  as  well  as  he 


40  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Who  understands  human  nature  best.  Self-knowledge. 

did.  And  not  he  alone ;  but  this  is  characteristic  of 
all  who  are  real  students.  They  work  upon  the  deep 
principles  of  human  nature — those  principles  which 
are  altered  neither  by  time,  nor  fashion,  nor  outward 
circumstances.  This  is  one  reason  why  an  educated 
mind  will  often  send  the  arrow  through  the  heart,  while 
the  uneducated  man  only  twangs  his  bow.  He  makes 
more  noise,  but  produces  no  execution.  I  doubt  not 
that  many  will  smile  at  the  idea,  that  the  hard  student 
understands  mankind ;  but  you  might  as  well  smile  at 
the  philosopher,  who,  while  he  was  managing  the 
electricity  in  the  thunder-cloud,  could  not  tell  what 
outward  shapes  the  cloud  might,  in  the  mean  time, 
assume,  or  whether  it  moved  fast  or  slow. 

Self-knowledge  is  another  important  end  of  study. 
There  are  some  men  who  have  raised  themselves  to 
high  stations,  and  maintained  them,  without  a  long 
course  of  mental  discipline.  Roger  Sherman  thus  rose 
from  the  bench  of  a  shoemaker,  till  the  eyes  of  a  na- 
tion gazed  on  him  in  admiration.  But  most  are  ped- 
ants, and  self-conceited,  unless  they  have  accurately 
and  repeatedly  measured  themselves  by  others.  It  is 
of  great  importance  that  you  know  .what  you  cannot 
do,  as  well  as  what  you  can  do.  For  this  reason,  with 
all  the  temptations  and  dangers  attending  a  public  ed- 
ucation, I  am  satisfied  it  is  much  to  be  preferred  to  a 
private  one.  The  wisest  period  in  the  whole  of  a 
man's  existence,  is  when  he  has  just  entered  college. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  41 

Measure  yourself.  Vanity  unacceptable. 

And  why  ?  Simply  because  the  youth  has  not  yet 
had  the  opportunity  of  measuring  his  attainments  and 
capacity  with  that  of  his  fellows.  It  is  not  merely  that 
you  sharpen  the  intellect,  and  add  a  keenness  to  the 
mind,  by  contact  with  other  minds,  but  you  strengthen 
it  by  the  contact,  and  you  learn  to  be  modest  in  regard 
to  your  own  powers.  You  will  see  many  with  intel- 
lects of  a  high  order,  and  with  attainments  far  beyond 
any  thing  which  you  have  dared  call  your  own. 
There  must  be  some  radical  defect  in  that  man's  na- 
ture, who  can  be  associated  in  study,  for  years,  with 
those  who  are  severe  students,  and,  at  the  end  of  the 
period,  feel  that  he  is  a  very  wise  or  a  very  great 
man.  He  has  then  but  just  stepped  upon  the  thresh- 
old of  learning,  and  but  just  looked  out  upon  that  field 
of  knowledge  and  improvement,  which  is  as  boundless 
as  the  creation  of  God.  The  mouse,  which  thought 
his  chest  was  all  the  world,  was  astonished,  when  he 
stood  upon  the  till,  and  looked  out,  to  see  what  a  great 
world  lay  beyond  him.  But  what  is  the  reason  why 
a  man  must  know  himself  exactly  ?  What  if  he  does 
over-estimate  himself?  I  answer — If  he  presents  a 
draft  greater  than  his  deposits,  it  will  certainly  be  pro- 
tested. There  is  so  much  vanity  in  the  heart  of  every 
man,  that  he  will  not  allow  any  one  to  claim  more 
than  his  merits  absolutely  compel  him  to  allow ;  so 
that,  if  you  place  yourself  on  the  list  of  those  who 
over-estimate  their  own  attainments  or  worth,  you  in- 


42  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL 

Modesty  of  a  well-disciplined  mind.  Memory. 

jure  your  usefulness  and  destroy  your  happiness.  The 
modest  man  may,  and  will,  draw  vastly  harder  upon 
the  sympathy  and  good-will  of  mankind  than  the  for- 
ward man,  with  the  same  attainments,  will  be  allowed 
to  do.  Modesty,  to  rest  upon  any  fixed,  stable  foun- 
dation, must  rest  upon  an  accurate  knowledge  of  your- 
self. This  will  be  the  result  of  study.  The  philoso- 
pher whose  fame  was  filling  all  Europe,  was  so  modest 
and  retiring,  that  his  good  landlady,  one  day,  mourned 
over  him,  and  lamented  that "  the  poor  soul  could  never 
make  any  thing  more  than  a  philosopher  after  all !  " 

We  are  in  too  great  danger  of  neglecting  the  mem- 
ory. It  is  too  valuable  to  be  neglected,  for  by  it, 
wonders  are  sometimes  accomplished.  He  who  has  a 
memory  that  can  seize  with  an  iron  grasp,  and  retain 
what  he  reads, — the  ideas,  simply,  without  the  lan- 
guage,— and  judgment  to  compare  and  balance,  will 
scarcely  fail  of  being  distinguished.  Many  are  afraid 
of  strengthening  the  memory,  lest  it  should  destroy 
their  inducement  and  power  to  originate  ideas — lest 
the  light  should  be  altogether  borrowed  light.  The 
danger  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  very  great; 
especially  since  I  have  noticed,  that  those  who  are 
so  fearful  of  employing  this  faculty  are  by  no 
means  to  be  envied  for  their  originality.  Why  has 
that  mass  of  thought,  observation,  and  experience, 
which  is  embodied  in  books,  by  the  multitudes  of 
minds  which  have  gone  before  us,  been  gathered,  if 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  43 

Originality  not  necessary. 

not,  that  we  may  use  it,  and  stand  on  high  ground, 
and  push  our  way  still  farther  into  the  boundaries  and 
regions  of  knowledge  ?  Besides,  in  a  world  so  dark 
as  ours,  it  is  delightful  to  see  a  planet  rising  before  us, 
even  though  she  sheds  no  light  but  borrowed.  And, 
after  all,  the  exact  amount  of  original  thought  which 
passes  through  anyone  mind,  is  probably  much  less  than 
is  frequently  imagined.  Who  does  not  know  what  a 
delightful  freshness  there  is  in  the  reading  of  youth  ! 
The  world  is  new  to  him.  He  treads  on  ground  new 
and  enchanting.  I  have  frequently  heard  men,  in 
maturer  years,  wish  that  they  could  now  sit  down  and 
find  the  same  freshness  in  a  book,  which  they  did 
when  young.  Why  do  they  not  ?  Because  a  new 
book,  now,  is  not  new.  They  have  seen  the  same 
ideas,  or  the  shades  of  them,  many  times  before ;  and 
every  book  takes  away  from  the  originality  of  that 
which  is  to  follow  it.  The  man  who  declared  that 
the  only  two  new  books  in  the  world  were  the  Bible 
and  Euclid,  was  not  so  far  out  of  the  way  as  would 
at  first  seem.  If,  then,  there  is  not  so  much  of  origin- 
ality in  men  and  in  books  as  you  at  first  suppose,  it 
follows,  that  memory  is  the  grand  instrument  of  con- 
veying knowledge  from  one  man  to  another.  Its  cul- 
tivation is  of  the  highest  importance.  I  mention  it 
here,  not  now  to  direct  how  to  cultivate  it,  but  to 
state  its  immense  value. 


44  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Object  of  study  repeated.  Power  of  memory. 

You  will  see,  from  what  I  have  said,  that  the  object 
of  study  is  to  discipline  the  mind  in  all  its  parts ;  to 
shoiv  it  where  to  find  tools,  and  how  to  use  them. 
The  exact  amount  of  knowledge  which  is  at  any  one 
time  in  the  mind  of  the  student,  is  not,  and  need  not 
be,  great.  Like  a  good  pump,  you  could  soon  ex- 
haust it,  were  it  not  that  it  reaches  an  inexhaustible 
well  beneath,  and  has  all  the  apparatus  for  filling  itself 
as  fast  as  emptied.  If  the  knowledge  which  he  now 
possesses  shall  evaporate,  it  will,  like  the  vapors 
which  rise  from  the  ocean,  again  return  to  the  diligent 
student,  by  some  other  channels.  It  is  thought  by 
some,  however,  that  no  item  of  knowledge,  and  not  a 
single  idea  which  is  once  formed  in  the  mind,  can  ever 
be  lost.  It  may  be  forgotten  to-day,  but  it  will  come 
again  to  the  notice  of  the  mind  in  the  course  of  the 
unending  progress  which  is  yet  to  be  made  by  the 
human  soul.  How  important  that  the  knowledge 
which  we  acquire,  and  the  thoughts  which  occupy  our 
minds,  be  such,  that,  come  when  they  may,  we  shall 
recognize  them  as  pleasant  companions  and  worthy 
friends  !  The  immortality  of  light  which  awaits  the 
good,  is  to  be  one  of  thought,  of  review,  and  of  selfr 
communion ;  and  the  night  of  ages  which  shall  settle 
down  upon  the  wicked,  will  not  be  other  than  sleep- 
less. 

Jt  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  the  youth  to  feel, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  45 

Away  from  home.  Tediousness  of  the  student's  life. 

as  he  is  sent  away  from  home,  and  confined  down  to 
books,  that  it  is  really  a  hard  way  to  obtain  an  edu- 
cation. He  thinks  of  the  brooks,  the  groves,  or  the 
hills  and  ponds  near  his  home,  of  his  skates,  his  gun, 
or  his  fishing-tackle,  or  of  the  social  circle  around  his 
father's  fire-side,  and  sighs,  that  he  must  be  exiled 
from  all  these,  and  shut  up  in  his  naked  room,  among 
strangers,  and  there  must  unceasingly  pore  over  his 
books.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  he  feels  so ; 
but  let  him  reflect,  that  this  is  the  time  to  form  habits, 
and  to  begin  a, course  of  mental  discipline,  which,  in  a 
few  years,  will  raise  him  high  in  the  esteem,  the  re- 
spect, and  the  honors,  of  his  fellow-men.  Every  dis- 
tinguished man  has  trodden  the  same  path.  There  is 
no  other  road  to  knowledge,  to  improvement,  to  dis- 
tinction. If  the  voice  of  experience  could  come  to 
your  ear,  and  if  you  could  see  the  agony  of  heart 
which  those  feel,  who  once  had  your  opportunities,  but 
misimproved  them,  you  would  be  astonished  to  see 
the  real  value  of  your  situation.  All  who  have  passed 
through  academic  or  collegiate  life,  know^  how  very 
irksome  that  life  is ;  and  the  reason  is,  it  is  so  hard 
for  the  mind  to  be  broken  in,  and  subdued  by  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  situation  :  it  is  like  taking  the  half- 
grown  lion,  and  putting  him  in  the  iron  cage,  and  then 
teaching  him  how  to  obey  his  master,  and,  of  course, 
how  to  subdue  himself.  But  this  very  discipline  is 


46  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Conclusion. 

the  only  thing  which  can  bring  the  mind  under  proper 
subjection,  and  fit  it  to  become  obedient  to  yourself. 
I  hope,  in  the  chapters  which  are  to  follow,  to  mark 
out  the  road  so  plainly,  that  you  will  find  it  more  and 
more  pleasant  to  travel,  and,  at  its  end,  feel  that  it  has 
been  a  journey  full  of  sweet  recollections,  and  one  of 
bright  promise. 


CHAPTER  H. 

HABITS. 

THE  whole  character  may  be  said  to  be  compre- 
hended in  the  term  habits ;  so  that  it  is  not  so  far 
from  being  true,  that  "  man  is  a  bundle  of  habits." 
Suppose  you  were  compelled  to  wear  an  iron  collar 
about  your  neck  through  life,  or  a  chain  upon  your 
ankle ;  would  it  not  be  a  burden  every  day  and  hour 
of  your  existence  ?  You  rise  in  the  morning  a  pris- 
oner to  your  chain ;  you  lie  down  at  night,  weary 
with  the  burden  ;  and  you  groan  the  more  deeply,  as 
you  reflect  that  there  is  no  shaking  it  off.  But  even 
this  would  be  no  more  intolerable  to  bear  than  many 
of  the  habits  of  men ;  nor  would  it  be  more  difficult 
to  be  shaken  off. 

Habits  are  easily  formed — especially  such  as  are 
bad  ;  and  what  to-day  seems  to  be  a  small  affair,  will 
soon  become  fixed,  and  hold  you  with  the  strength 
of  a  cable.  That  same  cable,  you  will  recollect,  is 
formed  by  spinning  and  twisting  one  thread  at  a  time  ; 
but,  when  once  completed,  the  proudest  ship  turns  her 
head  towards  it,  and  acknowledges  her  subjection  to 
its  power. 

Habits  of  some  kind  will  be  formed  by  every  stu- 


48  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Habits  formed  by  all.  It  ought  to  be  so. 

dent.  He  will  have  a  particular  course  in  which  his 
time,  his  employments,  his  thoughts  and  feelings,  will 
run.  Good  or  bad,  these  habits  soon  become  a  part 
of  himself,  and  a  kind  of  second  nature.  Who  does 
not  know,  that  the  old  man,  who  has  occupied  a  par- 
ticular corner  of  the  old  fire-place  in  the  old  house  for 
sixty  years,  may  be  rendered  wretched  by  a  change  ? 
Who  has  not  read  of  the  release  of  the  aged  prisoner 
of  the  Bastile,  who  entreated  that  he  might  again 
return  to  his  gloomy  dungeon,  because  his  habits 
there  formed,  were  so  strong,  that  his  nature  threaten- 
ed to  sink  under  the  attempt  to  break  them  up  ?  You 
will  probably  find  no  man  of  forty,  who  has  not 
habits  which  he  laments,  which  mar  his  usefulness, 
but  which  are  so  interwoven  with  his  very  being, 
that  he  cannot  break  through  them.  At  least  he  has 
not  the  courage  to  try.  I  am  expecting  you  will  form 
habits.  Indeed,  I  wish  you  to  do  so.  He  must  be 
a  poor  character,  indeed,  who  lives  so  extempore  as 
not  to  have  habits  of  his  own.  But  what  I  wish  is, 
that  you  form  those  habits  which  are  correct,  and 
such  as  will  every  day  and  hour  add  to  your  happi- 
ness and  usefulness.  If  a  man  were  to  be  told  that 
he  must  use  the  axe,  which  he  now  selects,  through 
life,  would  he  not  be  careful  in  selecting  one  of  the 
right  proportions  and  temper?  If  told  that  he  must 
wear  the  same  clothing  through  life,  would  he  not  be 
anxious  as  to  the  quality  and  kind  ?  But  these,  in  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  49 


How  to  form  a  habit.        Example.        The  prisoner,  a  second  example. 

cases  supposed,  would  be  of  no  more  importance  than 
is  the  selection  of  habits  in  which  the  soul  shall  act. 
You  might  as  well  place  the  body  in  a  strait-jacket, 
and  expect  it  to  perform,  with  ease,  and  comfort,  and 
promptness,  the  various  duties  of  the  body,  as  to 
throw  the  soul  into  the  habits  of  some  men,  and  then 
expeet  it  will  accomplish  any  thing  great  or  good. 

Do  not  fear  to  undertake  to  form  any  habit  which  is 
desirable ;  for  it  can  be  formed,  and  that  with  more  ease 
than  you  may  at  first  suppose.  Let  the  same  thing,  or 
the  same  duty,  return  at  the  same  time  every  day,  and  it 
will  soon  become  pleasant.  No  matter  if  it  be  irksome 
at  first ;  but  how  irksome  soever  it  may  be,  only  let  it 
return  periodically,  every  day,  and  that  without  any 
interruption  for  a  time,  and  it  will  become  a  positive 
pleasure.  In  this  way  all  our  habits  are  formed. 
The  student  who  can  with  ease  ijow  sit  down,  and 
hold  his  mind  down  to  his  studies  nine  or  ten  hours 
a  day,  would  find  the  laborer,  or  the  man  accus- 
tomed to  active  habits,  sinking  under  it,  should  he  at- 
tempt to  do  the  same  thing.  I  have  seen  a  man  sit 
down  at  the  table  spread  with  luxury,  and  eat  his 
sailor's  biscuit  with  relish,  and  without  a  desire  for 
any  other  food.  His  health  had  compelled  him  thus 
to  live,  till  it  had  become  a  pleasant  habit  of  diet. 
Previous  to  this,  however,  he  had  been  rather  noted 
for  being  an  epicure.  "  I  once  attended  a  prisoner," 
sa  s  an  excellent  man,  "  of  some  distinction,  in  one 
4 


50  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

First  direction  in  regard  to  habits — have  plant. 

of  the  prisons  of  the  metropolis,  ill  of  a  typhus  fever, 
whose  apartments  were  gloomy  in  the  extreme,  and 
surrounded  with  horrors  ;  yet  this  prisoner  assured  me 
afterwards,  that,  upon  his  release,  he  quitted  them 
with  a  degree  of  reluctance :  custom  had  reconciled 
him  to  the  twilight  admitted  through  the  thick-barred 
grate,  to  the  filthy  spots  and  patches  of  his  plastered 
walls,  to  the  hardness  of  his  bed,  and  even  to  con- 
finement." 

I  shall  specify  habits  which,  in  my  view,  are  very 
desirable  to  the  student,  and,  at  the  same  time,  en- 
deavor to  give  specific  directions  how  to  form  them. 
1.  Have  a  plan  laid  beforehand  for  everyday. 
These  plans    ought   to  be   maturely   formed  the 
evening  previous,  and,  on  rising  in  the  morning,  again 
looked  at,  and  immediately  entered  upon.     It  is  aston- 
ishing how  much,  more  we  accomplish  in  a  single 
day,  (and  what  of  else  is  life  made  up  ?)  by  having 
the  plan  previously  marked  out.     It  is  so  in  every 
thing.     This   morning  a  man   was   digging   a  path 
through  a  deep  snow-bank.      It  was  almost  insup- 
portably  cold,  and  he  seemed  to  make  but  little  head- 
way, though  he  worked  as  if  upon  a  wager.      At 
length,  getting  out  of  breath,  he  paused,  and  marked 
out  the  width  of  the  path  with  his  shovel,  then  mark- 
ed out  the  width  of  each  shovel-full,  and  consequently 
the  amount  of  snow  at  each  throw  of  the  shovel.     In 
fifteen  minutes,  he  had  done  more,  and  it  was  done 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  51 

The  snow  path.  How  to  calculate  for  a  day. 

neater  and  easier,  than  in  thirty  minutes  previous, 
when  working  without  a  plan.  It  is  of  little  conse- 
quence by  what  we  illustrate,  if  we  make  a  thing 
clear,  and  impress  it  upon  the  mind.  I  have  found,  in 
my  own  experience,  as  much  difference  in  the  labors 
of  two  days,  when  working  with,  or  without  a  plan, 
as,  at  least,  one  half,  without  having  the  satisfaction, 
in  the  latter  case,  of  knowing  what  I  have  done. 

Experience  will  tell  any  man,  that  he  is  most  suc- 
cessful in  his  own  pursuits,  when  he  is  most  careful 
as  to  method.  A  man  of  my  acquaintance  has  a 
small  slate,  which  hangs  at  his  study-table.  On  that 
he  generally  finds,  in  the  morning,  his  work  for  the 
day  written  down  ;  and  in  the  evening  he  reviews  it, 
sees  if  he  has  omitted  any  thing,  and,  if  so,  chides 
himself  that  all  is  not  done.  To  make  this  clear,  I 
copy  here  what  was  found  on  his  slate  for  one  day,  as 
I  saw  it  this  morning : — 

a.  Horse,  errands,  and  dig  paths. 

b.  Carry  my  child  to  school,  and  pay  postage- 
bill. 

c.  Write  from  9  till  dinner  [at  1  o'clock]. 

d.  Write  to  C.,  inviting  him — also  to  I.  at  N.  H. 

e.  Examine    the   use  of  the  word    dpyi^gffds   in 
Ephesians  4.  26. 

/.  Visit  Mr.  M.  sick,  also  the  two  families  in 
Maple  Street. 

g.  Get  some  straw  for  horse  wherever  it  can  be 
purchased. 


52  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Reviewing  the  day.        Character  formed.        A  student's  day. 

h.  Prepare  and  preach  this  evening. 

i.  Examine  the  sixth  vol.  of  B.  [to  see  if  any 
thing  is  there  which  I  want]. 

j.  Last,  not  least,  to  fix  the  pump  [so  that  it  will 
not  freeze  up]. 

If,  at  the  close  of  the  day,  he  finds  these  items  all 
accomplished,  and  that  in  such  a  way  as  to  satisfy 
conscience,  he  feels  that  the  day  has  not  been  lost. 
Sometimes  he  finds  he  has  misjudged,  and  has  marked 
out  more  than  he  can  do ;  sometimes  he  is  hindered 
by  unexpected  interruptions,  and  therefore  cannot  do 
all,  or  even  half,  he  calculated  to  do.  These  must  be 
all  weighed  every  night  at  the  review.  Be  sure  and 
review  every  night,  and  when  you  have  balanced  the 
account  with  conscience,  lay  out  what  you  will  do  for 
the  next  day. 

Such  a  system  will  not  make  a  noisy,  blustering 
character.  The  river,  that  rolls  a  heavy  burden  of 
water  to  the  ocean,  is  the  stream  which  keeps  the 
channel,  and  is  noiseless  in  its  course.  There  is  a 
prescribed  routine  of  duties  marked  out  by  your 
teachers.  These,  of  course,  will  come  in  your  every- 
day plans ;  but,  in  addition  to  these,  you  ought  to  do 
something  by  way  of  acquiring  or  retaining  informa- 
tion, or  something  to  add  to  the  happiness  of  your 
friends  or  of  your  companions.  Let  me  suppose  you 
mark  out  your  plan  for  to-morrow,  thus : — 

1.  Walk  to  the  pond,  1J  mile,  immediately  after 
breakfast. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  53 

A  student's  day.  Second  direction — untiring  industry. 

2.  Lesson  and  recitation. 

3.  Write  to  my  mother,  acknowledging  her  letter 
and  bundle. 

4.  Review,  and  see  if  I  can  read  the  6th  Eclogue 
of   Virgil   without  looking  into   the    Dictionary   or 
Grammar.     (Regular  course  of  review.) 

5.  Lesson  and  recitation.     Walk  till  tea. 

6.  See  if  I  can  go  through  the  24th  proposition 
of  Euclid,  1st  B.,  at  once.     (Regular  review.) 

7.  Visit   Smith's   ro^m,  and   explain   the  remark 
which  I  made  to-day,  and  at  which  he  seemed  hurt. 

8.  Lesson  for  the  morning,  &c. 

9.  Note   the  three  facts    respecting  Demosthenes 
in  my  common-place  book. 

10.  Talk   over  the   question  for  dispute  in  the 
Society  with  my  chum. 

1 1 .  Read  the  new  magazine  which  mother  has  just 
sent  me. 

At  first  you  will  feel  discouraged  in  not  being  able 
to  do  as  much  work  as  you  mark  out.  But  you  will 
do  more  and  more,  from  day  to  day,  as  you  proceed ; 
and  you  will  soon  be  astonished  at  seeing  how  much 
can  be  accomplished.  If  you  choose,  you  can  have 
a  book  instead  of  a  slate,  which  will  be  also  a  kind 
of  journal  of  your  life,  full  of  interesting  memoranda. 

2.  Acquire  the  habit  of  untiring  industry. 

Should  you  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  suppose  you 
are  a  genius,  and  that  "things  will  come  to  you," 


54  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Folio  volumes.         Indian  maxim.         Who  is  a  blusterer. 

it  would  be  well  to  undeceive  yourself  as  soon  as 
possible.  Make  up  your  mind  that  industry  must  be 
the  price  of  all  you  obtain,  and  at  once  begin  to  pay 
down.  "Diligence  in  employments  of  less  conse- 
quence is  the  most  successful  introduction  to  greater 
enterprises."  It  is  a  matter  of  unaffected  amazement 
to  see  what  industry  alone  will  accomplish.  We  are 
astonished  at  the  volumes  which  the  men  of  former 
ages  used  to  write.  But  the  term  industry  is  the 
key  to  the  whole  secret.  "  If  e  that  shall  walk  with 
vigor  three  hours  a  day,  will  pass  in  seven  years  a 
space  equal  to  the  circumference  of  the  globe." 
There  is  no  state  so  bad  for  the  student  as  idleness, 
and  no  habit  so  pernicious.  And  yet  none  is  so  easily 
acquired,  or  so  difficult  to  be  thrown  off.  The  idle 
man  soon  grows  torpid,  and  becomes  the  Indian  in 
his  feelings,  insensibly  adopting  their  maxim — "It  is 
better  to  walk  than  to  run,  and  better  to  stand  still 
than  to  walk,  and  better  to  sit  than  to  stand,  and 
better  to  lie  than  to  sit."  Probably  the  man  who 
deserves  the  most  of  pity,  is  he  who  is  most  idle ;  for 
as  "  there  are  said  to  be  pleasures  to  madness  known 
only  to  madmen,  there  are  certainly  miseries  in 
idleness  which  only  the  idle  can  conceive."  I  am 
aware  that  many  are  exceedingly  busy,  who  are  not 
industrious.  For  it  very  frequently  happens,  that  he 
who  is  most  hurried  and  bustling,  is  very  far  from  being 
industrious.  A  shrewd  man  can  easily  discover  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  55 

Who  has  leisure.  Seneca. 

difference.  "  He  that  neglects  his  known  duty,  and 
real  employment,  naturally  endeavors  to  crowd  his 
mind  with  something  that  may  bar  out  the  remem- 
brance of  his  own  folly,  and  does  any  thing  but  what 
he  ought  to  do,  with  eager  diligence,  that  he  may 
keep  himself  in  his  own  favor." 

It  is  perfectly  clear  that  he  who  is  industrious  has 
really  the  most  of  leisure  ;  for  his  time  is  marked  out 
into  distinct  portions,  to  each  of  which  something  is 
assigned ;  and  when  the  thing  is  done,  the  man  is  at 
leisure  ;  but  a  dead  calm  settles  over  him  who  lives  an 
idle  life.  Better  that  the  waters  be  straitened,  and 
burst  over  their  banks,  than  that  they  be  too  sluggish  to 
move  at  all.  Who  would  not  prefer  to  put  to  sea,  even 
in  a  storm,  and  in  a  gale  hurry  over  the  waters,  rather 
than  lie  for  weeks  becalmed  ?  It  is  said  that  when 
Scanderbeg,  prince  of  Epirus,  was  dead,  the  Turks 
wished  to  get  his  bones,  that  each  one  might  wear  a 
piece  near  his  heart,  and  thus  obtain  some  part  of 
that  courage  which  he  had  while  living,  and  which 
they  had  too  often  experienced  in  battle.  What  a 
blessing,  if  the  idle  might  obtain  some  such  charm, 
that  would  rouse  them  up  to  habits  of  industry ! 
Seneca  assures  his  friend,  in  a  letter,  that  there  "  was 
not  a  day  in  which  he  did  not  either  write  something, 
or  read  and  epitomize  some  good  author."  So  uni- 
versal has  the  opinion  of  men  been  on  the  point,  that, 
in  order  to  excel,  you  must  be  industrious,  that  idlers 


56  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Rutherford.  Luther.  Jeremiah  Evarts. 

have  received  the  just  appellation  of  "  fools  at  large." 
You  would  be  surprised  to  know  how  many  hours 
slip  away  from  the  man  who  is  not  systematically  in- 
dustrious. "  Such  was  his  unwearied  assiduity  and 
diligence,  that  he  seemed  to  pray  constantly,  to 
preach  constantly,  to  catechize  constantly,  and  to  visit 
the  sick,  exhorting  from  house  to  house,  to  teach  as 
much  in  the  schools,  and  spend  as  much  time  with 
the  students  and  young  men,  in  fitting  them  for  the 
ministry,  as  if  he  had  bee*n  sequestrate  from  all  the 
world  besides,  and  yet,  withal,  to  write  as  much  as  if 
he  had  been  constantly  shut  up  in  his  study."* 

It  is  easy  for  the  student  to  form  good  plans  of 
study  and  of  daily  habits,  and  to  draw  them  out  on 
paper,  all  perfected.  But  the  difficulty  is,  they  are 
found  no  where  but  on  p*aper ;  and  because  you  cannot 
at  once  reach  them,  you  sit  down  and  give  up  an  un- 
tiring industry.  It  was  a  matter  of  astonishment  to 
Europe,  that  Luther,  amid  all  his  travels  and  active 
labors,  could  present  a  very  perfect  translation  of  the 
whole  Bible.  But  a  single  word  explains  it  all.  He 
had  a  rigid  system  of  doing  something  every  day. 
"  Nulla  dies"  says  he,  in  answer  to  the  question  how 
he  did  it — " nulla  dies  sine  versu;"  and  this  soon 
brought  him  to  the  close  of  the  whole  Bible. 

I  have  never  known  a  man  whose  habits  of  every- 
day industry  were  so  good  as  those  of  Jeremiah  Ev- 

*  Life  of  Rutherford. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  57 

Idleness  certain  death. 

arts.  During  years  of  close  observation  in  the  bosom 
of  his  family,  I  never  saw  a  day  pass  without  his  ac- 
complishing more  than  he  expected;  and  so  regular 
was  he  in  all  his  habits,  that  I  knew  to  a  moment 
when  I  should  find  him  with  his  pen,  and  when  with 
his  tooth-brush,  in  his  hand ;  and  so  methodical  and 
thorough,  that  though  his  papers  filled  many  shelves, 
when  closely  tied  up,  there  was  not  a  paper  among 
all  his  letters,  correspondence,  editorial  matter,  and  the 
like,  which  was  not  labelled  and  in  its  place,  and  upon 
which  he  could  not  lay  his  hand  in  a  moment.  I 
never  knew  him  search  for  a  paper ; — it  was  always 
in  its  place.  I  have  never  yet  met  with  the  man 
whose  industry  was  so  great,  or  who  would  accom- 
plish so  much  in  a  given  time. 

"  Pray,  of  what  did  your  brother  die  ? "  said  the 
Marquis  Spinola  to  Sir  Horace  Vere.  "  He  died,  sir," 
replied  he,  "  of  having  nothing  to  do."  "  Alas,  sir," 
said  Spinola,  "  that  is  enough  to  kill  any  general  of 
us  all." 

Demosthenes,  as  is  well  known,  copied  Thucyd- 
ides'  History  eight  times  with  his  own  hand,  merely 
to  make  himself  familiar  with  the  style  of  that  great 
man. 

There  are  two  proverbs,  one  among  the  Turks,  and 
the  other  among  the  Spaniards,  both  of  which  con 
tain  much  that  is   true.     "A  busy  man  is  troublec 
with  but  one  devil,  but  the  idle  man  with  a  thou 


58  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Third  direction — perseverance. 

sand."  "  Men  are  usually  tempted  by  the  devil,  but 
the  idle  man  positively  tempts  the  devil."  How 
much  corrupting  company,  how  many  temptations  to 
do  wrong,  how  many  seasons  of  danger  to  your  char- 
acter, and  danger  to  the  peace  of  your  friends,  would 
you  escape,  by  forming  the  habit  of  being  decidedly 
industrious  every  day ! 

3.   Cultivate  perseverance. 

By  perseverance,  I  mean  a  steadfastness  in  pursu- 
ing the  same  study,  and  carrying  out  the  same  plans 
from  week  to  week.  Some  will  read  or  hear  of  a 
plan  which  somebody  has  pursued  with  great  success, 
and  at  once  conclude,  that  they  will  do  so.  The  plan 
will  be  adopted  without  consideration,  then  talked 
about  as  a  fine  affair,  and,  in  a  few  days  thrown  aside 
for  something  else.  Such  a  great  man  did  this,  or  did 
that,  and  I  will  do  so,  is  the  feeling ;  but  as  soon  as  it 
becomes  irksome,  as  any  new  habit  will  in  a  short 
time,  it  is  laid  aside.  I  once  knew  a  man,  a  student, 
who  somewhere  read  of  a  great  man  who  wrote 
over  his  door,  "  Dum  loquimur  tempus  ftigit ; "  and 
immediately  he  had  it  in  staring  capitals  over  his  door. 
Again,  he  read  that  a  very  learned  man  used  9. 
admire  Blackstone :  at  once  he  drops  all,  and  put 
chases  Blackstone's  Commentaries.  These  he  began 
to  read  with  great  eagerness  ;  but,  happening  to  hear 
that  Oliver  Ellsworth  was  in  the  habit  of  getting  most 
of  his  information  from  conversation,  (a  fact  which  I 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  59 


Decision  an  attendant  on  perseverance.  If  nstrated. 

doubt,)  he  was  for  dropping  Blackstone,  and  going 
from  room  to  room,  to  gather  information  by  conver- 
sation !  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  a  college 
full  of  such  students,  all  condensed  into  one,  would 
not  make  a  single  real  student.  "  The  man  who  is 
perpetually  hesitating  which  of  two  things  he  will  do 
first,  will  do  neither.  The  man  who  resolves,  but 
suffers  his  resolution  to  be  changed  by  the  first  coun- 
ter suggestion  of  a  friend, — who  fluctuates  from  opinion 
to  opinion,  from  plan  to  plan,  and  veers  like  a  weath- 
er-cock to  every  point  of  the  compass,  with  every 
breath  of  caprice  that  blows, — can  never  accomplish 
any  thing  great  or  useful.  Instead  of  being  pro- 
gressive in  any  thing,  he  will  be  at  best  stationary, 
and  more  probably  retrograde  in  all.  It  is  only  the 
man  who  carries  into  his  pursuits  that  great  quality 
which  Lucan  ascribes  to  Caesar, — nescia  virtus  stare 
loco, — who  first  consults  wisely,  then  resolves  firmly, 
and  then  executes  his  purpose  with  inflexible  perse- 
verance, undismayed  by  those  petty  difficulties  which 
daunt  a  weaker  spirit, — that  can  advance  to  eminence 
in  .any  line.  Let  us  take,  by  way  of  illustration,  the 
case  of  a  student.  He  commences  the  study  of  the 
dead  languages :  presently  comes  a  friend,  who  tells 
him  he  is  wasting  his  time,  and  that,  instead  of  obso- 
lete words,  he  had  much  better  employ  hrmseJf  in 
acquiring  new  ideas.  He  changes  his  plan,  and  sets 
to  work  at  the  mathematics.  Then  comes  another 


60  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Effect  of  changing  plans.  Habit  of  putting  off. 

friend,  who  asks  him,  with  a  grave  and  sapient  face, 
whether  he  intends  to  become  a  professor  in  a  col- 
lege ;  because,  if  he  does  not,  he  is  misemploying 
his  time  ;  and  that,  for  the  business  of  life,  common 
mathematics  is  quite  enough  of  the  mathematics. 
He  throws  up  his  Euclid,  and  addresses  himself  to 
some  other  study,  which,  in  its  turn,  is  again  relin- 
quished on  some  equally  wise  suggestion ;  and  thus 
life  is  spent  in  changing  his  plans.  You  cannot  but 
perceive  the  folly  of  this  course ;  and  the  worst  effect 
of  it  is,  the  fixing  on  your  mind  a  habit  of  indecision, 
sufficient  of  itself  to  blast  the  fairest  prospects.  No, 
take  your  course  wisely,  but  firmly ;  and,  having  taken 
it,  hold  upon  it  with  heroic  resolution,  and  the  Alps 
and  Pyrenees  will  sink  before  you.  The  whole  em- 
pire of  learning  will  be  at  your  feet,  while  those  who 
set  out  with  you,  but  stopped  to  change  their  plans, 
are  yet  employed  in  the  very  profitable  business  of 
changing  their  plans.  Let  your  motto  be,  Perse- 
verando  vinces.  Practise  upon  it,  and  you  will  be 
convinced  of  its  value  by  the  distinguished  eminence 
to  which  it  will  conduct  you."  * 

We  are  in  danger  of  ruining  our  promising  plans, 
in  themselves  very  good,  by  the  habit  of  putting  off 
till  to-morrow  what  may  be  done  to-day.  That  let- 
ter may  be  answered  to-morrow  ;  that  request  of  my 

»  Wirt. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  61 

Charles  XII. 

friend  may  be  attended  to  to-morrow,  and  he  will  be 
no  loser.  True;  but  you  are  the  loser;  for  the 
yielding  to  one  such  temptation,  is  the  signal  to  the 
yielding  up  the  whole  citadel  to  the  enemy.  That 
note  and  that  valuable  fact  may  be  recorded  in  my 
common-place  book  to-morrow.  True;  but  every 
such  indulgence  is  a  heavy  loss  to  you.  Every  hour 
should  be  perseveringly  filled  up.  But  this  is  not 
all.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  take  for  your  motto,  with 
the  immortal  Grotius,  "Hora  ruit;"  but  let  it  be 
filled  up  according  to  some  plan.  One  day  filled  up 
according  to  a  previous  plan,  is  worth  more  than  a 
week,  filled  up,  but  without  any  plan. 

It  is  astonishing  to  see  with  what  perseverance  and 
inflexibility  of  purpose  those  men  have  pursued  the 
object,  the  pursuit  and  attainment  of  which  consti- 
tuted their  greatness.  Charles  XII.  was  frequently 
on  his  horse  for  twenty-four  hours  at  once ;  and  thus 
he  traversed  most  of  his  dominions.  His  officers  were 
all  tired  out ;  consequently,  for  the  most  part,  he  per- 
formed these  journeys  entirely  alone.  On  one  of 
these  excursions,  his  poor  horse  fell  dead  under  him. 
Without  any  uneasiness,  the  monarch  stripped  the 
dead  horse,  and  marched  off  with  the  saddle,  bridle 
and  pistols  on  his  back.  At  the  next  inn,  he  found  a 
horse  in  the  stable  to  his  mind,  and  immediately  har- 
nessed him,  and  was  just  making  off,  when  the  owner 
out,  and  called  him  to  account  for  stealing  his 


62  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Fourth  direction — punctuality.          Difficult  attainment.  Brougham. 

property.  The  monarch  replied,  that  he  took  the 
horse  because  he  was  tired  of  carrying  the  saddle 
himself.  This  not  satisfying  the  owner,  they  drew 
swords,  and  would  have  shed  blood,  royal  or  plebeian, 
had  not  the  guard  rode  up  and  informed  the  owner 
that  his  sword  was  raised  against  his  king.  This  was 
but  a  single  specimen  of  the  untiring  perseverance, 
with  which  that  ambitious  man  carried  out  his  plans. 
The  same  perseverance  would  place  almost  any  stu- 
dent on  a  high  eminence  in  a  very  few  years. 

4.    Cultivate  the  habit  of  punctuality. 

There  is  no  man  living  who  might  not  be  a  punc- 
tual man ;  and  yet  there  are  few  that  are  so,  to  any 
thing  like  the  degree  to  which  they  ought  to  attain.  It 
is  vastly  easier  to  be  a  little  late  in  getting  into  the  reci- 
tation-room, and  a  little  late  in  doing  every  thing.  It  is 
•  not  so  easy  to  be  a  prompt,  punctual  character ;  but  it  is 
a  trait  of  inestimable  value  to  yourself  and  to  the  world. 
The  punctual  man  can  do  twice  as  much,  at  least,  as 
another  man,  with  twice  the  ease  and  satisfaction  to 
himself,  and  with  equal  satisfaction  to  others.  The 
late  lord  chancellor  of  England,  Henry  Brougham, 
while  a  kingdom  seemed  to  be  resting  on  his  shoul- 
ders ;  who  presided  in  the  house  of  lords  and  the  court 
of  chancery ;  who  gave  audience  daily  to  barristers, 
found  time  to  write  reviews,  to  be  at  the  head  of  at 
least  ten  associations  which  were  publishing  works  of 
useful  knowledge, — was  so  punctual,  that,  when  these 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  63 

Why  we  love  a  punctual  man.     Blackstone.      Brewer,  while  a  student. 

associations  met,  he  was  uniformly  there  when  the 
hour  of  meeting  had  arrived,  and  was  in  his  place  in 
the  chair. 

We  are  all  so  indolent,  by  nature  and  by  habit, 
that  we  feel  it  a  luxury  to  find  a  man  of  real,  undevi- 
ating  punctuality.  We  love  to  lean  upon  such  a  man, 
and  we  are  willing  to  purchase  such  a  staff  at  almost 
any  price.  It  shows,  at  least,  that  he  has  conquer- 
ed himself. 

Some  seem  to  be  afraid  of  cherishing,  this  habit,  lest 
it  border  upon  a  virtue  that  is  vulgar,  and  is  below  the 
ambition  of  a  great  mind,  or  the  attention  of  one  who 
has  greater  virtues  upon  which  he  may  presume. 
Was  the  mind  of  Blackstone  of  a  low  order  ?  Did  he 
cultivate  punctuality  because  he  had  not  great  traits 
of  character  on  which  to  rely  ?  Yet,  when  he  was 
delivering  even  his  celebrated  lectures,  he  was  never 
known  to  make  his  audience  wait  even  a  minute  ;  and 
he  could  never  be  made  to  think  well  of  any  one  who 
was  notoriously  defective  in  this  virtue.  The  reader 
will  be  pleased  with  the  following  notice  of  Mr. 
Brewer,  afterwards  a  valuable  minister  of  the  gospel. 
While  a  student,  he  was  always  known  to  be  punctual 
in  attending  the  lectures  at  the  tutor's  house.  The 
students  boarded  in  neighboring  families,  and  at  stated 
hours  met  for  recitation.  One  morning,  the  clock 
struck  seven,  and  all  rose  up  for  prayer,  according  to 
custom.  The  tutor,  looking  round,  and  observing  that 


64  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Loss  by  the  want  of  this  habit. 

Mr.  Brewer  was  absent,  paused  awhile.  Seeing  him 
now  enter  the  room,  he  thus  addressed  him  : — "  Sir, 
the  clock  has  struck,  and  we  were  ready  to  begin ;  but, 
as  you  were  absent,  we  supposed  it  was  too  fast,  and 
therefore  waited."  The  clock  was  actually  too  fast 
by  some  minutes. 

It  is  no  great  virtue  to  be  punctual  in  paying  a  con- 
siderable debt,  though,  even  here,  too  many  fail;  but 
it  is  the  every-day  and  every-hour  occurrences,  in 
which  we  are  most  apt  to  fail.  "  I  am  too  late  now, 
but  it  is  only  once.  I  have  not  been  prompt  in  ful- 
filling my  plans  to-day ;  but  it  is  only  once."  Such  is 
the  language  of  procrastination.  I  have  myself  ridden 
scores  of  miles,  and  been  put  to  inconvenient  expense, 
and  a  hard  week's  work  in  writing,  by  the  want  of 
punctuality  in  one  who  failed  only  five  minutes,  and 
that  wholly  unnecessarily.  Be  punctual  in  every 
thing.  If  you  determine  to  rise  at  such  an  hour,  be 
on  the  floor  at  the  moment.  If  you  determine  to  do 
so  much  before  breakfast,  be  sure  to  do  it ;  if  to 
meet  a  society,  or  a  circle  of  friends,  be  there  at  the 
moment.  We  are  apt  to  be  tardy  in  attending  meet- 
ings of  societies,  &c.,  especially  if  we  have  any  thing 
to  do.  "  There  is  great  dignity  in  being  waited  for," 
said  one  who  was  in  this  habit,  and  who  had  not  much 
of  which  he  need  be  vain,  unless  it  was  this  want  of 
promptness.  An  assembly  will  be  glad  to  see  you 
after  having  waited  for  you ;  but  they  would  have 


»       THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  65 

Mistakes  made.        Fifth  direction — early  rising.        Swift's  remark. 

been  more  glad  to  see  you  at  your  post.  When  there 
are  two  things  for  you  to  do,  one  of  which  must  be 
done,  and  the  other  is  what  you  very  much  desire  to 
do,  be  sure  and  begin  the  former  first.  For  example, 
you  may  very  much  wish  to  complete  the  sheet 
which  you  are  now  writing,  and  for  many  reasons  you 
may  wish  it ;  but  you  must  recite  this  evening.  Now, 
the  way  for  you  to  do,  is,  now  to  stop  writing,  and 
prepare  for  recitation,  else  you  will  write  so  long,  that 
not  only  your  preparation  in  study  will  be  slighted, 
but  you  will  also  be  in  danger  of  not  being  punctual. 
The  want  of  the  observance  of  this  rule,  very  fre- 
quently prevents  our  being  punctual  in  our  duties. 

5.  Be  an  early  riser. 

Few  ever  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  fewer  still  ever 
.became  distinguished,  who  were  not  in  the  habit  of 
early  rising.  You  rise  late,  and  of  course  get  about  your 
business  at  a  late  hour,  and  every  thing  goes  wrong  all 
day.  Franklin  says,  "that  he  who  rises  late,  may 
trot  all  day,  and  not  have  overtaken  his  business  at 
night."  Dean  Swift  avers,  "that  he  never  knew  any 
man  come  to  greatness  and  eminenpe  who  lay  in  bed 
of  a  morning." 

I  believe  that,  with  other  degeneracies  of  our  days, 
history  will  prove  that  late  rising  is  a  prominent  one. 
In  the  fourteenth  century,  the  shops  in  Paris  were 
universally  open  at  four  in  the  morning ;  now,  not  till 
long  after  seven.  Then,  the  king  of  France  dined  out 
5 


66  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Former  times.  Curious  instance  in  Buflbn. 

at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  retired  to  his 
chamber  at  the  same  hour  in  the  evening.  In  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII. ,  seven  in  the  morning  was  the 
fashionable  breakfast  hour — ten  the  dinner  hour.  In 
the  time  of  Elizabeth,  the  nobility,  fashionables,  and 
students,  dined  at  1 1  o'clock,  and  supped  between  five 
and  six  in  the  afternoon. 

Buffon  gives  us  the  history  of  his  writing  in  a  few 
words.  "  In  my  youth,  I  was  very  fond  of  sleep  :  it 
robbed  me  of  a  great  deal  of  my  time ;  but  my  poor 
Joseph  (his  servant)  was  of  great  service  in  enabling  me 
to  overcome  it.  I  promised  to  give  Joseph  a  crown 
every  time  that  he  would  make  me  get  up  at  six. 
Next  morning,  he  did  not  fail  to  wake  me  and  to  tor- 
ment me ;  but  he  only  received  abuse.  The  next  day 
after,  he  did  the  same,  with  no  better  success ;  and  I 
was  obliged  to  confess,  at  noon,  that  I  had  lost  my 
time.  I  told  him  that  he  did  not  know  how  to  man- 
age his  business ;  he  ought  to  think  of  my  promise, 
and  not  mind  my  threats.  The  day  following,  he 
employed  force ;  I  begged  for  indulgence — I  bid  him 
begone — I  stormed — but  Joseph  persisted.  I  was 
therefore  obliged  to  comply;  and  he  was  rewarded 
every  day  for  the  abuse  which  he  suffered  at  the  mo- 
ment when  I  awoke,  by  thanks,  accompanied  with  a 
crown,  which  he  received  about  an  hour  after.  Yes, 
1  am  indebted  to  poor  Joseph  for  ten  or  a  dozen  of 
the  volumes  of  my  works" 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  67 

Frederick  II.  Doddridge.  Early  rest  necessary. 

Frederick  II.  of  Prussia,  even  after  age  and  infirmi- 
ties had  increased  upon  him,  gave  strict  orders  never 
to  be  allowed  to  sleep  later  than  four  in  the  morning. 
Peter  the  Great,  whether  at  work  in  the  docks  at 
London  as  a  ship-carpenter,  or  at  the  anvil  as  a  black- 
smith, or  on  the  throne  of  Russia,  always  rose  before 
daylight.  "  I  am,"  says  he,  "  for  making  my  life  as 
long  as  I  can,  and  therefore  sleep  as  little  as  possible." 
Doddridge  makes  the  following  striking  and  sensible 
remarks  on  this  subject : — "  I  will  here  record  the  ob- 
servation, which  I  have  found  of  great  use  to  myself, 
and  to  which,  I  may  say,  that  the  production  of  this 
work  (Commentary  on  the  New  Testament),  and 
most  of  my  other  writings,  is  owing,  viz.  that  the  dif- 
ference between  rising  at  five  and  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  for  the  space  of  forty  years,  supposing 
a  man  to  go  to  bed  at  the  same  hour  at  night,  is  near- 
ly equivalent  to  the  addition  of  ten  years  to  a  man's 
life." 

In  order  to  rise  early,  I  would  earnestly  recommend 
an  early  hour  for  retiring.  There  are  many  other 
reasons  for  this.  Neither  your  eyes  nor  your  health 
are  so  likely  to  be  destroyed.  Nature  seems  to  have 
so  fitted  things,  that  we  ought  to  rest  in  the  early  part 
of  the  night.  Dr.  Dwight  used  to  tell  his  students 
"  that  one  hour  of  sleep  before  midnight  is  worth 
more  than  two  hours  after  that  time."  Let  it  be  a 
rule  with  you,  and  scrupulously  adhered  to,  that  your 


68  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

How  to  form  the  habit.  The  clock. 

light  sHall  be  extinguished  by  ten  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing. You  may  then  rise  at  five,  and  have  seven 
hours  to  rest,  which  is  about  what  nature  requires. 

But  how  shall  you  form  the  habit  of  getting  up  so 
early  ?  Suppose  you  go  to  bed,  to-night,  at  ten :  you 
have  been  accustomed  to  sit  up  later:  for  an  hour  you 
cannot  sleep ;  and  when  the  clock  strikes  five,  you 
will  be  in  a  fine  sleep.  I  reply,  that,  if  you  ever  hope 
to  do  any  thing  in  this  world,  the  habit  must  be  form- 
ed, and  the  sooner  it  is  done  the  better.  If  any 
money  could  purchase  the  habit,  no  price  would  be 
too  great.  When  the  writer  commenced  the  prac- 
tice in  earnest,  he  procured  an  old  clock,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  about  two  dollars.  (This  may  be  placed 
wherever  you  please.)  He  then  formed  a  little  ma- 
chine which  went  by  a  weight  and  string,  through  the 
axle  of  which  were  four  arms  of  wire,  at  the  ends  of 
which  were  as  many  brass  buttons.  As  the  weight 
went  down,  these  revolving  buttons  struck  against  a 
small  house-bell.  This  set  up  such  a  tremendous 
ringing,  tliat  there  was  no  more  sleep.  All  this  was 
connected  with  the  wooden  clock,  in  the  distant  room, 
by  means  of  wires.  He  has  had  the  honor  to  instruct 
others  of  his  profession  into  the  mystery  >  and  has  had 
the  pleasure  of  hearing  the  dingling  of  other  bells, 
which  other  wooden  clocks  set  a  ringing.  Some  use 
a  small  alarm-clock  to  call  them  up,  and  to  which  they 
soon  acquire  a  strong  attachment,  which  would  be 


THE   STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  69 

Yale  and  Amherst  Colleges.        Many  object  to  forming-  the  habit. 

stronger  still,  could  it  be  made  to  strike  up  a  light  and 
build  a  fire.  By  this,  or  some  such  process,  you  must 
be  regularly  waked  at  an  early  hour.  The  students 
in  Yale  and  Amherst  Colleges,  have  generally  the 
alarm-clock.  After  you  are  once  awaked,  be  sure  to 
use  the  first  consciousness  in  getting  upon  the  floor. 
If  you  allow  yourself  to  parley  a  single  moment,  sleep, 
like  an  armed  man,  will  probably  seize  upon  you,  and 
your  resolution  is  gone,  your  hopes  are  dashed,  and 
your  habits  destroyed.  Need  you  be  reminded  here, 
that  the  young  man  who  is  in  the  habit  of  early  rising, 
will  and  must  be  in  the  habit  of  retiring  early,  and,  of 
course,  will  put  himself  out  of  the  way  of  many  temp- 
tations and  dangers  which  come  under  the  veil  of 
midnight.  Not  a  few  feel  that  the  rules  of  acade- 
mies, or  colleges,  which  call  them  up  early,  are  rather 
a  hardship.  They  transgress  them  when  they  dare. 
Finding  the  stolen  waters  sweet,  they  do  all  in  their 
power  during  vacations,  and  at  other  times,  to  prevent 
themselves  from  forming  the  habit  of  early  rising. 
They  ought  not  to  feel  or  do  so.  The  business  of  col- 
lege, and  the  business  of  life,  alike  require  early  rising  ; 
and  you  are  your  own  enemy  if  you  cherish  the  feel- 
ing that  this  is  a  burden.  It  ought  to  be  a  matter  of 
gratitude  that  such  regulations  prevail  in  our  semi- 
naries. One  of  the  most  celebrated  writers  of  Eng- 
land was  lately  asked  how  it  was  that  he  wrote  so 
much,  and  yet  from  ten  in  the  forenoon  was  at  leisure 


70  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Besetting'  sin.  Sixth  direction — learn  from  every  thing. 

through  the  day.  "  Because  I  begin  to  write  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,"  was  the  reply.  Most  confi- 
dently do  I  believe,  that  he  who  from  his  youth  is  in 
the  habit  of  rising  early,  will  be  much  more  likely  to 
live  to  old  age,  more  likely  to  be  a  distinguished  and 
useful  man,  and  more  likely  to  pass  a  life  that  is 
peaceful  and  pleasant.  I  dwell  upon  this  point,  be- 
cause a  love  for  the  bed  is  too  frequently  a  besetting 
sin  of  students,  and  a  sin  which  soon  acquires  the 
strength  of  a  cable. 

6.  Be  in  the  habit  of  learning  something  from 
every  man  with  whom  you  meet. 

The  observance  or  neglect  of  this  rule  will  make  a 
wonderful  difference  in  your  character  long  before  the 
time  that  you  are  forty  years  old.  All  act  upon  it, 
more  or  less,  but  few  do  it  as  a  matter  of  habit  and 
calculation.  Most  act  upon  it  as  a  matter  of  interest, 
or  of  curiosity  at  the  moment.  The  great  difficulty 
is,  we  begin  too  late  in  life  to  make  every  thing  con- 
tribute to  increase  our  stock  of  practical  information. 
Sir  Walter  Scott  gives  us  to  understand,  that  he  never 
met  with  any  man,  let  his  calling  be  what  it  might, 
even  the  most  stupid  fellow  that  ever  rubbed  down  a 
horse,  from  whom  he  could  not,  by  a  few  moments' 
conversation,  learn  something  which  he  did  not  before 
know,  and  which  was  valuable  to  him.  This  will  ac- 
count for  the  fact  that  he  seemed  to  have  an  intuitive 
knowledge  of  every  thing.  Who  but  he  would  stop 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  71 

Value  of  this  habit.  Wisdom  in  a  servant-girl, 

in  the  street  and  note  down  a  word  which  dropped 
among  the  oaths  of  two  angry  men, — a  word  for  which 
he  had  been  looking  for  months  ?  It  is  quite  as  im- 
portant to  go  through  the  world  with  the  ears  open, 
as  with  the  eyes  open.  "  When  I  was  young,"  says 
Cecil,  "  my  mother  had  a  servant,  whose  conduct  I 
thought  truly  wise.  A  man  was  hired  to  brew,  and 
this  servant  was  to  watch  his  method,  in  order  to  learn 
his  art.  In  the  course  of  the  process,  something  was 
done  which  she  did  not  understand.  She  asked  him, 
and  he  abused  her  with  the  vilest  epithets  for  her  ig- 
norance and  stupidity.  My  mother  asked  her  how 
she  bore  such  abuse.  'I  would  be  called,'  said  she? 
'  worse  names,  a  thousand  times,  for  the  sake  of  the 
information  I  got  out  of  him.'"  It  is  a  false  notion, 
that  we  ought  to  know  nothing  out  of  our  particular 
line  of  study  or  profession.  You  will  be  none  the  less 
distinguished  in  your  calling,  for  having  obtained  an 
item  of  practical  knowledge  from  every  man  with 
whom  you  meet.  And  every  man,  in  his  particular 
calling,  knows  things  which  you  do  not,  and  which 
are  decidedly  worth  knowing. 

Multitudes  of  gifted  and  learned  men  sat  under 
the  ministry  of  the  eloquent  and  youthful  Spencer. 
They  were  his  superiors  in  every  thing  excepting 
his  own  profession,  and  perhaps  in  that,  excepting 
the  point  on  which  he  had  just  been  studying, 
and  on  which  he  was  speaking.  Yet  they  all  felt 

* 


72  THE   STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

Wirt's  review  of  this  subject.          The  principle  illustrated. 

that  they  were  deriving  information,  profit,  and  pleas- 
ure, from  his  ministry.  "  Old-fashioned  economists 
will  tell  you  never  to  pass  an  old  nail,  or  an  old  horse- 
shoe, or  buckle,  or  even  a  pin,  without  taking  it  up  ; 
because,  although  you  may  not  want  it  now,  you  will 
find  a  use  for  it  some  time  or  other.  I  say  the  same 
thing  to  you  with  regard  to  knowledge.  However 
useless  it  may  appear  to  you  at  the  moment,  seize 
upon  all  that  is  fairly  within  your  reach.  For  there 
is  not  a  fact,  within  the  whole  circle  of  human  obser- 
vation, nor  even  a  fugitive  anecdote  that  you  read  in 
a  newspaper,  or  hear  in  conversation,  that  will  not 
come  into  play  some  time  or  other ;  and  occasions  will 
arise  when  they  involuntarily  present  their  dim  shad- 
ows in  the  train  of  your  thinking  and  reasoning, 
as  belonging  to  that  train,  and  you  will  regret  that  you 
cannot  recall  them  more  distinctly." 

I  do  not  recommend  you  to  try  to  learn  every  thing. 
Far  from  it.  But  while  you  have  one  great  object  in 
view,  you  can  attend  to  other  things  which  have  a 
bearing  on  your  object.  If  you  were  now  sent  on 
an  express  to  Mexico,  while  the  great  object  be- 
fore you  would  be,  to  do  your  errand  well,  and 
expeditiously,  ought  you  not,  as  you  pass  along, 
to  use  your  eyes,  and  gaze  upon  the  landscapes, 
the  rivers,  the  deep  glens,  the  waterfalls,  the  wild 
solitudes  of  nature,  which  lie  in  your  path  1  Ought 
you  not  to  have  your  ears  open,  to  pick  up  what  in- 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  73 

Seventh  direction— -fixed principles.  What  makes  a  firm  character. 

formation,  story,  anecdote,  fact,  every  thing  of  the 
kind,  which  you  can,  and  thus  return  wiser  ?  Would 
all  this  hinder  you  in  the  least  ?  And  would  you  not 
be  fitting  yourself,  by  every  such  acquisition,  to  be  a 
more  agreeable,  intelligent  and  useful  man  ?  "  Sic,  sic 
se  habcrc  rem  necesse  prorsus  est" 

7.  Form  fixed  principles  on  which  you  think 
and  act. 

A  good  scholar  tries  so  to  fix-  every  word  in  his 
memory,  that,  when  he  meets  with  it  again,  he  need 
not  turn  to  his  dictionary.  His  companion  may  dis- 
pute its  derivation,  ,or  its  gender,  and- he  may  not  be 
able,  to  tell  just  how  the  word  appeared  when  he  look- 
ed it  out ;  but  he  has  made  up  his  mind  about  it,  and 
has  a  fixed  opinion.  He  may  not  now  be  able  to  tell 
you  by  what  process  he  came  to  that  opinion.  It  should 
be  to  with  every  thing.  Do  not  examine  a  subject, 
in  order  to  get  some  general  notion  of  it,  but,  if  now 
in  haste,  wait  till  you  can  do  it  thoroughly.  No  mat- 
ter what  it  be, — of  great  importance  or  small, — if  it  be 
worth  examining  at  all,  do  it  thoroughly,  and  do  it 
once  for  all  ;  so  that,  whenever  the  subject  shall  again 
come  up,  your  mind  will  be  settled  and  at  rest. 
It  is  the  possession  of  established  and  unwavering 
principles  that  makes  a  man  a  firm  character.  These 
principles  relate  to  right  and  wrong,  and,  indeed,  to 
every  thing  about  which  the  judgment  has  to  balance 
probabilities.  Do  not  be  hasty  in  coming  to  conclu- 


74  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  tried  shelf.  Characters  and  books  to  be  classified. 

sions.  Young  men  generally  err  more  by  being  pre- 
cipitate, than  for  want  of  judgment.  If  they  will  only 
give  themselves  time  to  weigh  the  matter,  their  conclu- 
sions will  usually  be  correct. 

"  I  have  long  adopted  an  expedient,  which  I  have 
found  of  singular  service.  I  have  a  shelf  in  my  study 
for  tried  authors,  and  one  in  my  mind  for  tried  princi- 
ples and  characters. 

"  When  an  author  has  stood  a  thorough  examination, 
and  will  bear  to  be  taken  as  a  guide,  I  put  him  on  the 
shelf! 

"  When  I  have  more  fully  made  up  my  mind  on  a 
principle,  I  put  it  on  the  shelf!  A  hundred  subtle 
objections  may  be  brought  against  this  principle  ;  I 
may  meet  with  some  of  them,  perhaps  ;  but  my  prin 
ciple  is  on  the  shelf.  Generally  I  may  be  able  to  re- 
call the  reasons  which  weighed  with  me  to  put  it  there  ; 
but,  if  not,  I  am  not  to  be  sent  out  to  sea  again. 
Time  was  when  I  saw  through  and  detected  all  the 
subtleties  that  could  be  brought  against  it.  I  have 
past  evidence  of  having  been  fully  convinced ;  and 
there  on  the  shelf  it  shall  be  ! 

"  When  I  have  turned  a  character  over  and  over  on 
all  sides,  and  seen  it  through  and  through  in  all  situ- 
ations, I  put  it  on  the  shelf.  There  may  be  conduct 
in  the  person,  which  may  stumble  others ;  there 
may  be  great  inconsistencies ;  there  may  be  strange 
and  unaccountable  turns ;  but  I  have  put  that  character 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  75 

The  martyr  Latimer. 

on  the  shelf;  difficulties  will  all  be  cleared ;  every  thing 
will  come  round  again.  I  should  be  much  chagrined, 
indeed,  to  be  obliged  to  take  a  character  down  which 
I  had  once  put  up,  but  that  has  never  been  the  case 
with  me  yet ;  and  the  best  guard  against  it  is,  not  to 
be  too  hasty  in  putting  them  there."  Those  who  un- 
derstand the  above  keen  remarks  by  experience,  well 
know  what  a  luxury  it  is,  on  particular  occasions,  when 
the  mind  is  fatigued,  or  the  memory  is  weak,  and 
doubts  are  started  concerning  some  point  of  great  im- 
portance, to  have  this  "  shelf"  of  established  princi- 
ples to  which  you  can  go.  I  have  never  been  able  to 
read  the  history  of  the  martyrdom  of  the  venerable 
Latimer,  without  being  touched,  almost  to  tears,  to  see 
him  clinging  to  his  long-established  principles.  They 
urged  him  to  dispute  and  prove  his  religion  true,  and 
the  popish,  false.  He  knew  that  he  was  old,  and  had 
lost  somewhat  of  the  strength  of  his  mind.  He  would 
not  dispute.  He  left  that  for  young  and  vigorous 
minds,  while  he  died  simply  repeating  his  belief! 
He  knew  very  well  that  he  had  once  examined  the  sub- 
ject with  all  the  vigor  of  his  intellect,  and  he  was  not 
to  go  and  take  these  principles  down  from  the  "  shelf," 
and  again  prove  them  to  be  correct.  Conduct  which 
stands  on  such  a  basis,  and  character  which  strikes  its 
roots  thus  deep,  will  be  such  as  will  bear  scrutiny,  and 
such  as  no  storm  can  shake. 


76  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Eighth  direction — personal  habits.  Tobacco. 

"  The  man  resolved,  and  steady  to  his  trust, 

Inflexible  to  ill,  and  obstinately  just, 
May  the  rude  rabble's  insolence  despise, 
Their  senseless  clamors  and  tumultuous  cries  ; 

The  tyrant's  fierceness  he  beguiles, 

And  the  stern  brow  and  the  harsh  voice  defies, 

And  with  superior  greatness  smiles." 

8.  Be  simple  and  neat  in  your  personal  habits. 

It  is  frequently  said,  that  "  some  pride  is  necessary 
among  men,  else  they  would  not  be  decent  in  their  ap- 
pearance." If  the  remark  means  any  thing,  I  suppose 
it  means,  that  pride  adds  much  and  frequently  to  our 
personal  appearance.  But  an  angel,  or  any  sinless 
spirit,  I  doubt  not,  would  be  a  gentleman  in  appearance 
and  dress,  and  that  not  from  pride,  but  from  a  desire 
to  be  more  useful  and  more  happy.  Nothing  will  so 
uniformly  and  certainly  make  you  unpopular,  as  to 
have  any  habits  that  are  slovenly. 

If  you  have  ever  learned  to  chew  or  smoke  that 
Indian  weed,  called  tobacco,  I  beg  that  you  will  at 
once  drop  all,  cleanse  your  mouth,  and  never  again 
defile  yourself  with  it.  Nicholas  Monardus,  a  German, 
has  written  a  large  folio  on  the  virtues  of  tobacco ;  but 
it  would  take  many  such  folios  to  prove  it  worthy  of 
a  place  among  civilized  men.  Let  a  man  be  thrown 
from  a  ship-wreck  upon  a  desert  island,  and  in  a 
state  of  starvation,  and  he  would  rather  die  than  to 
eat  this  weed,  though  the  island  might  be  covered 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  77 

The  royal  "  Counterblast."  Effects  of  the  system. 

with  it ;  and  no  youth  can  use  it,  either  in  chewing  or 
smoking,  without  decided  and  permanent  injury  to  his 
appearance,  health,  and  progress  in  study."  Let  a 
company  spend  the  evening  in  smoking  the  cigar,  and 
what  is  the  effect  ?  They  all  awake,  in  the  morning, 
restless,  feverish,  low-spirited,  and  dissatisfied.  The 
bell  grates  upon  the  nerves  worse  than  ever.  The 
mouth  is  clammy  and  bitter,  the  stomach  uneasy,  and 
each  one  feels  like  pouring  out  the  vital  principle  in 
yawning.  The  custom  certainly  seems  most  at  home 
in  a  filthy  ale-house  or  bar-room.  When  the  fashion 
was  so  strong  in  England,  that  James  I.  could  get 
no  one  to  preacfi  against  it,  his  own  royal  hand  took 
the  pen  and  wrote  a  treatise  which  he  denominates 
"A  Counterblast  to  Tobacco."  The  strength  of  his 
princely  antidote  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
closing  paragraph  of  this  royal  Counterblast.  "  It  is 
a  custom  loathsome  to  the  eye,  hateful  to  the  nose, 
harmful  to  the  brain,  dangerous  to  the  lungs,  and  in 

the  black fume  thereof,  nearest  resembling  the 

horrible  Stygeian  smoke  of  the  pit  that  is  bottomless." 

All  experienced  people  will  tell  you  that  the  habit 
of  using  tobacco,  in  any  shape,  will  soon  render  you 
emaciated  and  consumptive,  your  nerves  shattered, 
your  spirits  low  and  moody,  your  throat  dry,  and  de- 
manding stimulating  drinks,  your  person  filthy,  and 
your  habits  those  of  a  swine. 

Let  your  dress  be  neat  and  simple.     Do  not  feel 


78  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

Dress.  Change  of  garments. 

that  the  body,  which  is  merely  a  case  for  the  soul,  is  of 
too  great  importance.  At  the  same  time,  he  who  is  a 

• 

"  good  and  true  man,"  will  be  likely  to  keep  the  out- 
side of  his  house  in  good  order.  In  a  certain  village 
there  is  a  house,  which  seems  designed  to  be  foppish. 
Its  front  is  white,  its  left  green,  its  back  yellow,  and 
its  right  red.  Nothing  could  be  more  ridiculous,  and 
yet  it  is  not  more  ridiculous,  in  reality,  than  the  dress 
of  many  a  house  that  the  soul  must  inhabit.  I  would 
recommend  that  your  clothes  be  of  good  quality,- — so 
good,  that  you  constantly  feel  that  they  are  worth 
preserving, — and  that  you  feel  anxious  to  show  your 
economy,  by  the  length  of  time  they  last.  For  exer- 
cise, you  should  have  a  different  dress.  No  one  can 
enjoy  himself  who  undertakes  to  study  and  exercise 
in  the  same  dress.  In  your  study,  use  an  old  coat  or 
gown.  You  will  feel  more  easy  and  comfortable,  and 
your  dress-coat  will  last  all  the  better  for  it.  Some 
wear  a  baize  jacket  in  study ;  and  this  is  very  well.  I 
know  of  one  who  always  studies,  summer  and  winter, 
in  his  shirt  sleeves ;  and  though  I  have  an  opinion  of 
him  quite  as  high  as  he  deserves,  yet  I  cannot  recom- 
mend the  practice. 

Your  dress  should  be  warm.  If  you  wear  flannels 
next  the  skin,  be  sure  to  take  them  all  off  when  you 
sleep.  Be  sure,  also,  to  keep  your  feet  dry  and  warm. 
In  order  to  this,  you  must  use  them  every  day  in  walk- 
ing. The  question  in  relation  to  dress  should  be,  not 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  79 

Economy  in  dress.        Dandyism.        Alexander's  courtiers. 

"  How  often  can  I  have  a  new  hat  or  coat  ? "  but  "  How 
long  can  I  wear  it,  and  keep  it  handsome?"  He  who 
undertakes  to  be  very  nice  and  finical  in  his  dress, 
will  make  but  a  poor  student.  He  descends  towards 
the  animal  world.  Dryden,  in  his  fable  of  the  Cock 
and  the  Fox,  seems  to  have  had  a  dandy  before  him — 

"  Then,  turning,  said  to  Partlet, '  See,  my  dear, 
How  lavish  Nature  hath  adorned  the  year ; 
How*1he  pale  primrose  and  the  violets  spring, 
And  birds  assay  their  throats,  disused,  to  sing : 
All  these  are  ours ;  and  I,  with  pleasure,  see 
Man  strutting  on  two  legs,  and  aping  me ! ' " 

No  slave  is  so  abject,  as  he  who  tries  to  keep  near 
the  head  in  the  race  of  fashions.  Alexander  is  said 
to  have  had  a  neck  that  was  wry  ;  and  this  created  a 
fashion,  so  that  his  courtiers  all  held  their  heads  on 
one  side.  He  was  most  fashionable,  who  lopped  his 
head  the  most.  Was  this  more  ridiculous  than  what 
the  votaries  of  fashion  must  do  continually  ?  But 
cannot  a  student  be  particularly  nice  about  his  dress 
without  having  his  heart  all  in  it?  I  reply,  "that 
whenever  you  see  the  tail  of  a  fox  out  of  the  hole, 
you  may  be  pretty  sure  that  the  fox  is  in  the  hole." 
Keep  your  clothes  neat  and  clean ;  your  coat,  your 
hat,  your  boots  or  shoes,  and  be  neat  as  to  your 
linen ;  but  do  not  feel  that  this  is  by  any  means  the 
great  business  of  life. 

Pay  particular  attention  to  your  teeth.     By  this  I 


80  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  teeth..  How  preserved.  Singularity. 

mean,  simply,  cleanse  them  with  a  soft  brush  and 
with  water,  in  which  a  little  common  salt  is  dissolved, 
the  last  thing  before  you  retire  at  night.  This  simple 
direction,  faithfully  followed,  will  ordinarily  keep  the 
teeth  good  till  old  age.  I  would  urge  this,  because,  if 
neglected,  the  following  are  the  results: — Your  breath 
will  inevitably  become  offensive  from  defective  teeth  ; 
your  comfort  will  be  destroyed  by  frequent  tooth-ache ; 
your  health  will  suffer  for  the  want  of  gibod  teeth  to 
masticate  the  food;  and  last,  though  not  least,  you 
will  early  lose  your  teeth,  and  thus  your  public 
speaking  will  be  irretrievably  injured.  These  may 
seem  small  affairs  now,  but  the  habit  of  neglect  will 
assuredly  bring  bitter  repentance  when  it  is  too  late 
to  remedy  the  neglect. 

Do  not  affect  singularity  in  any  of  your  habits. 
We  never  feel  at  home  with  a  man  of  odd  habits ; 
and  any  such  will  assuredly  increase  upon  him.  He 
makes  a  heavy  draft  upon  the  kindness  of  mankind, 
who  is  every  day  demanding  that  they  bear  with  his 
eccentricities.  You  may  now  recollect  a  most  excel- 
lent man,  who  is  often  seen  in  company,  with  his  feet 
poised  upon  the  top  of  a  chair,  and  nearly  as  high  as 
his  head,  and  not  unfrequently  upon  a  table.  The 
habit  was  .acquired  when  a  student;  and  though  a 
whole  company  has  often  ached  over  the  habit,  yet  it 
remains  unaltered.  You  may  be  boorish  in  manners, 
and  be  like  Johnson  in  that  respect ;  but  he  had 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  81 

Manners  at  table.          What  society  demands  as  to  manners. 

talents  and  industry,  which  could  make  him  distin- 
guished in  spite  of  his  ill  manners. 

Be  particularly  attentive  to  your  behavior  at  table ; 
for,  from  his  situation,  the  student  is  peculiarly  tempted 
to  err  there.  There  is  an  abruptness  and  bluntness 
in  the  manners  of  some  professional  men — a  com- 
plete treading  under  foot  of  all  politeness.  It  may  be 
attributed  to  the  fact  that  they  probably  associated 
but  little  with  refined  society  while  students;  and 
when  they  came  out  into  the  world,  not  knowing  how 
to  behave,  they  put  on  the  blunt,  hair-cloth  mode,  as 
if  conscious  of  abilities  which  would  suffer  them  to 
despise  form  and  politeness.  But  a  man  is  never 
more  mistaken  than  when  he  supposes  that  any 
strength  of  mind  or  attainments  will  render  his 
company  agreeable,  while  his  manners  are  rude.  If 
you  are  accustomed  to  society,  behave  as  you  know 
how ;  if  not  accustomed  to  it,  behave  modestly,  and 
you  will  behave  well ;  so  that,  in  all  your  intercourse 
with  your  fellow-students, ;  always  maintain  the  ap- 
pearance and  character  of  a  gentleman,  never  that 
of  a  buffoon,  or  a  sloven.  And  as  your  character 
now  is,  in  these  respects,  so  it  is  to  be  through  life.  I 
have  known  students  whose  wash-stand,  and  establish- 
ment, showed  that  they  were  slovens ;  and  they  were 
never  known  to  improve  in  these  respects.  Keep 
your  room  and  person,  at  all  times,  just  as  you  woum 
have  it  if  you  expected  your  mother  or  sister  to  make 
6 


82  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Cleanliness.     The  fable.     Ninth  direction— doing  every  thing  well. 

you  a  visit.  Neatness  is  the  word  by  which  to 
designate  all  that  is  meant  in  regard  to  your  personal 
appearance. 

Cleanliness  is  the  first  mark  of  politeness;  it  is 
agreeable  to  others,  and  is  a  very  pleasant  sensation 
to  ourselves.  The  humor  of  Swift  was  not  misap- 
plied when  he  describes  himself  as  recovering  from 
sickness  by  changing  his  linen.  A  clean,  neat 
appearance  is  always  a  good  letter  of  introduction. 
May  I  request  my  readers  to  gather  the  application 
and  moral  of  the  following  beautiful  story : — "  A 
dervise,  of  great  sanctity,  one  morning,  had  the  misfor- 
tune, as  he  took  up  a  crystal  cup,  which  was  conse- 
crated to  the  prophet,  to  let  it  fall  upon  the  ground, 
and  dash  it  to  pieces.  His  son  coming  in  some  time 
after,  he  stretched  out  his  hand  to  bless  him,  as  his 
manner  was  every  morning;  but  the  youth,  going  out, 
stumbled  over  the  threshold  and  broke  his  arm.  As 
the  old  man  wondered  at  these  events,  a  caravan 
passed  by  in  its  way  to  Mecca:  the  dervise  ap- 
proached it  to  beg  a  blessing ;  but  as  he  stroked  one 
of  the  holy  camels,  he  received  a  kick  from  the  beast, 
which  sorely  bruised  him !  His  sorrow  and  amaze- 
ment increased  upon  him,  until  he  recollected  that, 
through  hurry  and  inadvertency,  he  had  that  morning 
come  abroad  without  washing  his  hands." 

9.  Acquire  the  habit  of  doing  every  thing  well. 

It  is  well  known  that  Johnson  used  to  write  and 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  88 

Johnson.  The  prize  lost.  Common  things. 

send  copy  to  the  press,  without  even  looking  it  over 
by  way  of  revising.  This  was  the  effect  of  habit. 
He  began  by  composing  slowly,  but  with  great 
accuracy.  We  are  naturally  impatient  of  restraint, 
and  have  so  little  patience  at  our  command,  that  it  is 
a  rare  thing  to  find  a  young  man  doing  any  thing  as 
well  as  he  can.  He  wishes  to  do  it  quickly.  And 
in  the  conversation  of  students,  you  seldom  hear  one 
tell  how  well  he  did  this  or  that,  but  how  quickly. 
This  is  a  pernicious  habit.  Any  thing  that  is  worth 
doing  at  all,  is  worth  doing  well ;  and  a  mind  well 
disciplined  in  other  respects,  is  defective,  if  it  have 
not  this  habit.  A  young  man,  who  unexpectedly  lost 
the  affections  of  a  young  lady,  of  whom  he  was 
sufficiently  fond,  informed  his  friend,  with  a  good 
degree  of  shrewdness,  that  he  doubted  not  that  he 
lost  the  prize  from  a  very  small  circumstance.  She 
handed  him  a  letter  which  she  had  been  writing  to  a 
friend,  and  asked  him  to  direct  it.  He  did  so,  but  in 
a  manner  so  hurried  and  slovenly,  (for  it  was  his 
great  ambition^o  be  quick  in  doing  any  thing,)  that 
she  blushed  when  she  received  it.  From  that  little 
circumstance  her  affections  seemed  to  cool,  until  they 
were  dead  to  him.  His  friend  comforted  him  by 
saying  that  "  she  was  more  than  half  right." 
.  This  incident  is  mentioned,  not  on  account  of  its 
dignity,  but  to  illustrate  the  point  in  hand.  Every 
thing  should  be  done  well,  and  practice  will '  soon 


84  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Euripides.  Buonaparte.  McDonough's  victory. 

enable  you  to  do  it  quickly.  How  many  are  misera- 
ble readers,  and  miserable  writers,  as  to  manner  and 
matter,  because  they  do  not  possess  this  habit! 
Euripides  used  to  compose  but  three  lines,  while  a 
contemporary  poet  composed  three  hundred ;  but  one 
wrote  for  immortality,  and  the  other  for  the  day. 
Your  reading  had  better  be  but  little,  your  conversa- 
tions but  few,  your  compositions  short  and  well 
done.  The  man  who  is  in  a  "  great  hurry,"  is  com- 
monly the  one  who  hurries  over  the  small  stages  of  the 
journey,  without  making  the  great  business  of  life 
to  consist  in  accomplishing  as  much  as  possible. 
The  great  secret  of  Buonaparte's  skill  as  a  warrior, 
consisted  in  this ;  that  he  did  his  business  thoroughly : 
if  he  met  an  army  in  two  or  three  divisions,  he  did 
not  divide  his  army  in  the  same  proportion.  No :  he 
brought  all  his  strength  to  bear  upon  one  point,  until 
that  was  annihilated.  So  with  McDonough,  during 
our  last  war.  He  directed  all  his  force,  every  gun, 
against  the  "big  ship"  of  the  enemy.  No  matter 
how  pressing  or  annoying  others  might  be ;  every  ball 
was  to  be  sent  towards  the  "  big  ship,"  till  her  guns 
were  silent.  This  is  a  good  principle  to  carry  out  in 
regard  to  every  thing. 

"How  is  it  that  you  do  so  much?"  said  one  in 
astonishment  at  the  efforts  and  success  of  a  great 
man.  "  Why,  I  do  but  one  thing  at  a  time,  and  try  to 
Jinish  it  once  for  all."  I  would  therefore  have  you 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  85 

Tenth  direction — temper.  Goldsmith's  temper. 

keep  this  in  mind: — Do  not  send  a  letter  home 
blotted  or  hurried,  and  ask  them  to  excuse  it,  because 
you  are  in  a  hurry.  You"  have  no  right  to  be  in  such 
a  hurry.  It  is  doing  injustice  to  yourself.  Do  not 
make  a  memorandum  so  carelessly,  that  in  five  years 
you  can  make  nothing  of  it.  Do  not  hurry  any  thing 
so  that  you  know  not  what  you  do,  or  do  not  know 
certainly  about  it,  and  have  to  trust  to  vague  impres- 
sions. What  we  call  a  superficial  character,  is  formed 
in  this  way;  and  none  who  are  not  careful  to  form 
and  cherish  the  habit  of  doing  every  thing  well,  may 
expect  to  be  any  thing  else  than  superficial. 

10.  Make  constant  efforts  to  be  master  of  your 
temper. 

The  often-quoted  remark  of  Solomon,  in  regard  to 
authorship  and  study,  is  true  to  life ;  and  that  study 
which  is  such  a  "  weariness  to  the  flesh,"  will  almost 
certainly  reach  the  nerves,  and  render  you  more  or 
less  liable  to  be  irritated.  Who  would  have  thought 
that  the  elegant  Goldsmith  would,  in  his  retirement, 
have  been  peevish  and  fretful  ?  So,  we  are  told,  was 
the  fact.  And  perhaps  he  who  could  write  the  Citi- 
zen of  the  World,  and  the  Deserted  Village,  and  the 
Vicar  of  Wakefield,  exhausted  his  nerves,  in  trying 
to  be  kind-hearted  and  pleasant  in  his  writings;  so 
that,  when  he  fell  back  into  real  life,  he  had  no  mate- 
rials left  with  which  to  be  agreeable.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  it  is  not  unfrequently  the  case,  that  he  who  can 


86  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Danger  to  a  student.  Manliness.  Contentment. 

appear  kind  and  pleasant  with  his  pen,  and  when 
abroad,  is  nevertheless  growing  sour  and  crabbed  in 
his  study.  Hence  it  has  sometimes  been  said  of  a 
student,  "  He  is  at  times  the  most  agreeable,  and  at 
times  the  most  disagreeable  of  men."  It  will  require 
no  small  exertion,  on  your  part,  to  become  master  of 
yourself.  He  that  is  master  of  his  own  spirit,  is  a 
hero  indeed.  Nothing  grows  faster  by  indulgence, 
than  the  habit  of  speaking  to  a  companion  hastily :  it 
soon  becomes  so  fixed  that  it  lasts  through  life.  In 
order  to  avoid  it^  cultivate  manliness  of  character. 
Be  frank  and  open-hearted.  Not  merely  appear  so, 
but  really  be  so.  There  is  an  openness,  a  nobleness 
of  soul,  about  some  men,  which  is  quickly  discovered, 
and  as  highly  valued.  We  know  that  there  is 
originally  a  difference  in  men.  Some  seem  to  be 
bora  small,  close,  misanthropic,  and  their  whole 
contour  is  on  a  contracted  scale.  But  there  is  no 
reason  why  they  should  yield  to  this  constitutional 
trait,  and  become  more  and  more  so.  You  may  have 
been  neglected  in  your  childhood  in  this  respect ;  but 
this  is  no  reason  why  you  should  neglect  yourself. 
You  will  often  see  students,  whose  means  are  small, 
much  respected  for  their  nobleness  and  manliness  of 
character.  I  mention  this,  that  you  may  not  forget 
that  it  is  not  the  circumstance  of  being  rich  or  poor, 
which  creates  this  trait  in  your  character. 

Be  contented  in    your    situation.      Nothing  will 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  87 

Petty  troubles.  Imaginary  inferiority. 

sooner  render  any  one  disagreeable,  or  sooner  destroy 
his  own  peace,  than  a  discontented  spirit.  Who 
can  expect  to  master  himself,  to  master  languages,  to 
master  mathematics,  and  to  master  a  thousand  diffi- 
culties, while  obtaining  a  thorough  and  complete 
education,  without  meeting  with  discouragements  ? 
Who  ever  undertook  to  explore  a  great  region, 
without  meeting  with  hot  suns,  and  cold  rains,  with 
clouds  of  dust,  and  swarms  of  flies  ? — Your  room  is 
not  pleasant.  It  is  to  be  regretted;  but,  as  the 
traveller  said  about  his  straw-bed  on  the  garret  floor, 
"  he  could  get  a  great  deal  of  good  sleep  out  of  it," 
you  can  study  hard  and  thoroughly  in  it.  You  will 
hereafter  often  be  called  to  task  your  mind  under 
circumstances  vastly  worse.— Your  room-mate  is  not 
good-tempered  or  agreeable.  Very  like ;  but  he  will 
become  much  better  by  associating  with  you,  if  you 
are  faithful  to  yourself.  He  may  have  had  poor 
advantages;  he  may  naturally  possess  a  disposition 
peculiarly  cross-grained;  but  he  is  susceptible  of 
great  improvement;  and  if  you  are  faithful,  he  will 
alter  more  than  you  can  now  imagine.  How  many 
young ,  men  have  been  saved  from  ruin  by  the 
example  and  kind  warnings  of  their  room-mates! — 
Your  boarding-place  is  not  to  your  mind.  Very 
like ;  but  as  the  great  object  is  the  mind,  rather  than 
the  body,  you  will  soon  cease  to  regard  it,  if  you  do 
not  stop  to  brood  over  it. — You  see  others  with  more 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


Reverie.  It  is  common. 


pocket-money,  and  better  dressed,  than  yourself. 
True ;  but  remember  that  the  recitation-room  is  the 
place  where  scholars  are  measured,  and  that  neither 
broadcloth  nor  pocket-money  will  avail  there.  You 
will  not  un  frequently  notice  a  great  difference  in  the 
appearance  of  the  same  scholars  when  on  the  prome- 
nade and  in  the  recitation-room.  You  will  find 
many  who  can  do  much  better  in  demonstrating  the 
fashions  of  the  day,  than  in  demonstrating  the 
problems  in  spherical  trigonometry,  or  in  construing 
Thucydides.  Will  you  envy  such,  and  repine  at 
your  circumstances  ? 

Another  way  to  avoid  discontent  and  peevishness, 
is  carefully  to  avoid  reverie.  Castle-building  cannot 
be  laughed  out  of  existence,  else  had  it  long  since 
been  no  more.  The  mischiefs  of  it  are  immense. 
We  are  not  satisfied  with  what  we.  now  are ;  we  have 
no  patience  to  dig,  and  wait,  and  grow  to  eminence ; 
and  so  we  go  off  on  the  wings  of  imagination,  and 
range  through  all  desirable  conditions,  and  select  one, 
and  at  once  sit  down  on  empire  or  greatness.  Nature 
and  fortune  never  combined  to  create  such  an 
Elysium  for  fallen  man  as  you  can  at  once  create  for 
yourself.  Fancy  soon  obtains  the  victory  over  the 
soul ;  for  it  is  vastly  more  easy  for  us  to  sit  in  our 
chair,  and  dream  ourselves  into  statesmen  and  orators, 
rulers,  and  movers  of  the  world,  than  to  put  forth  the 
exertions  required  to  become  tolerable  in  actual  life, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  89 

Reverie  sours  the  feelings. 

in  any  profession.     The  sage,  in  Rasselas,  who  spent 
his  time  and  thoughts,  and  wore  himself  down  for  ten 
years,  in  guiding  and  regulating  the  planets  and  sea- 
sons, was  wise,  in  comparison  with  many  who  live  in 
reverie ;  for  his  feelings  became  mellowed  and  kind, 
whereas,  in  most  cases,  the  whole  influence  of  these* 
day-dreams  is  bad.     They  decidedly  sour  the  feel- 
ings.    Notice  your  own  feelings.     As  you  descend 
upon   the  world  after  a  season  of  communing  with 
fancy,  it  seems  like  a  forsaken  castle,  cold  and  cheer- 
less.    In  these  reveries,  you  will  meet  with  enemies 
enough ;  but  it  is  only  that  fancy  may  lift  you  above 
them,  and  show  you  how  superior  you  are  to  every 
thing  like  difficulties  or  opposition.     I  am  confident 
that  I  do  not  speak  at  random  when  I  say,  I  have 
known  young  men  whose  feelings  became  morose,  and 
their  countenances  became  tfxudpuiroi,  like  those  of  the 
Pharisees,  wholly  in  consequence  of  frequently  en- 
countering legions  of  enemies  and  troubles  in  their 
reveries.     Let  the  imagination  become  your  master, 
and  hold  the  reins,  and  you  will  soon  become  a  dis- 
contented spirit.     At  this  point,  I  am  persuaded,  in- 
sanity frequently  begins.     Indeed, .he  who  lives  in  an 
imaginary  world  is,  quoad  hoc,  insane.     Who  can  be 
pleasant  and  good-natured,  after  having  sat  an  hour, 
persuading  himself  that  he  was  electrifying  the  senate, 
or  melting  a  jury,  or  overwhelming  a  city  congregation, 
with  a  nation  gazing  at  his  greatness,  and  then  sud- 


90  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Eleventh  direction — sound  judgment.        The  troublesome  watch. 

denly  awaking,  and  finding  that  he  dreads  to  have  the 
hour  of  reciting  arrive  ? 

1 1 .   Cultivate  soundness  of  judgment. 

Some  can  decide,  almost  intuitively,  upon  the  char- 
acter of  the  last  person  they  have  met.  So  of  a  book. 
They  can  turn  it  over,  read  part  of  a  page  here,  and  a 
sentence  or  two  in  another  place,  and  decide,  unhes- 
itatingly, upon  its  merits.  When  a  prejudice  has 
once  entered  your  mind  against  a  man  or  an  author, 
it  is  hard  to  eradicate  it.  It  warps  the  judgment 
and  makes  you  partial.  If  this  habit  be  indulg- 
ed, the  mind  soon  becomes  habituated  to  act  from 
prejudice,  rather  than  judgment.  "  A  perfectly  just 
and  sound  mind  is  a  rare  and  invaluable  gift.  But  it 
is  still  much  more  unusual  to  see  such  a  mind  unbias- 
ed in  all  its  actings.  God  has  given  this  soundness  of 
mind  but  to  few ;  and  a  very  small  number  of  those 
few  escape  the  bias  of  some  predilection,  perhaps  ha- 
bitually operating ;  and  none,  at  all  times,  are  perfect- 
ly free.  I  once  saw  this  subject  forcibly  illustrated. 
A  watch-maker  told  me  that  a  gentleman  had  put  an 
exquisite  watch  into  his  hands,  that  went  irregularly. 
It  was  as  perfect  a  piece  of  work  as  was  ever  made. 
He  took  it  to  pieces,  and  put  it  together  again,  twenty 
times.  No  manner  of  defect  was  to.  be  discovered ; 
and  yet  the  watch  went  intolerably.  At  last  it  struck 
him,  that  possibly  the  balance-wheel  might  have  been 
near  a  magnet :  on  applying  a  needle  to  it,  he  found 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  91 

Judging  of  your  own  character.  The  officer's  method. 

his  suspicions  true :  here  was  all  the  mischief.  The 
steel  works  in  the  other  parts  of  the  watch  had  a  per- 
petual influence  on  its  motions;  and  the  watch  went 
as  well  as  possible  with  a  new  wheel.  If  the  sound- 
est mind  be  magnetized  by  any  predilection,  it  must 
act  irregularly." 

As  to  judging  of  your  own  character,  do  not  forget, 
that  every  man  is  almost  sure  to  over-rate  his  own 
importance.  Our  friends  flatter  us,  and  our  own 
hearts  still  more.  Our  faults  are  not  seen,  or,  if  seen, 
passed  over,  or  softened  down,  by  both  of  these  par- 
ties. The  judgment  of  our  enemies,  though  more 
severe  upon  us,  is  more  likely  to  be  correct.  They 
at  least  open  our  eyes  to  defects,  which  we  were  in 
danger  of  never  seeing.  Another  thing  is  to  be  no- 
ticed. The  world  praises  you  for  this  or  that  thing 
which  you  do.  If,  on  examination,  you  find  the  mo- 
tives of  that  action  wrong  and  sinful,  are  you,  then, 
judging  correctly,  if  you  estimate  your  character  by 
their  judgment  ?  Many  of  our  virtues  are  of  a  doubt- 
ful nature,  and  we  are  in  danger  of  placing  all  such 
on  the  credit  side  of  the  ledger. 
1  An  officer  in  our  army,  of  high  character  and  prom- 
ise, told  me  that  he  once  sat  down  to  weigh  the  princi- 
ple of  entire  abstinence  from  ardent  spirit,  and  to  de- 
cide whether  it  was  his  duty,  in  his  circumstances,  to 
adopt  it.  He  took  a  large  sheet  of  paper,  and  began  by 
setting  down,  in  regular  order,  all  the  reasons  why  the 


92  THE  STUDENT'S    MANUAL. 

Twelfth  direction — treatment  of  friends. 

principle  of  entire  abstinence  ought  not  to  prevail. 
The  list  was  somewhat  long  and  imposing.  He  felt 
pretty  sure  that  he  might  safely  take  that  side  of  ihe 
question.  But  to  make  it  perfectly  sure,  he  began  to 
set  down,  on  another  page,  the  arguments  on  the  other 
side.  They  soon  began  to  grow  and  grow,  till  he  was 
astonished  at  their  number  and  weight.  They  quick- 
ly out-numbered  their  opponents;  and  it  did  not  at 
first  strike  his  attention,  that  he  had  several  put  down 
against  entire  abstinence  which  belonged  to  the  other 
side.  These  were  shifted  and  altered,  till,  at  hst; 
with  one  dash  of  the  pen,  he  blotted  out  the  few  that 
remained ;  and,  though  he  has  now  forgotten  the 
steps  of  the  process,  yet,  from  that  hour  to  this,  he 
has  never  had  a  doubt  on  the  question.  This  is  what  I 
mean  by  cultivating  soundness  of  judgment.  The  pro- 
cess may  be  slower  than  to  jump  to  conclusions,  but  it 
is  much  more  satisfactory,  and  will  give  you  the  habit 
of  weighing  and  judging  correctly. 

12.   Treatment  of  parents,  friends,  and  companions. 

I  hope  it  will  appear  that  I  am  not  out  of  place  in 
trying  to  lead  you  to  make  the  proper  treatment  of 
friends  a  habit.  Whether  you  intend  it  or  not,  it  will 
become  so.  Remember  that,  when  you  are  away 
from  home,  you  are  more  likely  to  forget  and  neglect 
your  parents,  than  they  are  to  forget  you.  You  are 
in  new  scenes,  forming  new  acquaintances.  They 
stay  at  home;  they  see  your  room,  your  clothes — 


/THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  93 

Parents'  anxiety.  Illustration.  Writing  to  friends. 

walk  over  the  rooms  where  your  voice  has  been  so 
often  and  so  long  heard.  They  follow  you  away ; 
they  miss  you  at  the  table,  and  speak  of  you  ;  they 
let  no  day  pass  without  speaking  of  you,  and  at  night 
they  send  their  thoughts  away  after  you,  and  have  a 
thousand  anxieties  about  you,  which  nothing  but  your 
attentions  can  remove  or  alleviate.  The  poet  beauti- 
fully compares  this  anxiety  for  absent  friends  to  that 
of  the  bird  which  leaves  her  young.  She  constantly 
fears  the-  serpent  will  find  them  during  her  absence, 
though  she  knows  her  presence  could  do  them  no 
good. 

"  Comes  minore  sum  futurus  in  metu, 

Qui  major  absentee  habet ; 

Ut  assidens  implumibus  pullis  avis 

Serpentium  allapsus  timet 

Magis  relictis :  non  ut  adsit,  auxill 

Latura  plus  prsesentibus." 

You  cannot  act  the  part  of  a  dutiful  child,  without 
daily  sending  your  thoughts  home.  Write  to  friends 
often,  and  at  stated  times.  Any  correspondence  be- 
tween friends  is,  in  all  respects,  more  valuable,  inter- 
esting, useful  and  pleasant  to  all  parties,  for  being  reg- 
ular and  at  stated  times.  You  then  know  when  to 
write,  and  when  to  expect  a  letter,  and  there  is  no 
wondering  why  a  letter  does  not  come,  and  no  chiding 
for  negligence.  Enter  into  no  correspondence,  unless 
it  be  on  occasional  business,  which  will  not  be  so  val- 


94  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

Example.  Letter  from  a  son. 

uable  that  you  wish  to  continue  it;  and  then  have 
periodical  times  of  writing.  To  your  parents,  it 
should  be  at  least  once  every  month.  In  these  letters, 
talk  out  your  feelings  in  that  easy,  cheerful  manner, 
that  you  would  were  you  at  home,  and  entertaining  the 
family  circle  in  the  vacation.  1  shall  not  ask  pardon 
for  introducing  here  a  letter  from  one,  whose  attentions 
to  the  person  addressed  have  never  been  regretted! 
The  letter  needs  no  expositor,  and,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
no  apology  for  being  inserted  here. 

" College,  Tuesday  Evening. 

"  My  dear  Mother, 

THOUGH  I  am  now  sitting  with  my  back 
towards  you,  yet  I  love  you  none  the  less ;  and,  what 
is  quite  as  strange,  I  can  see  you  just  as  plainly  as 
if  I  stood  peeping  in  upon  you.  I  can  see  you  all,  just 
as  you  sit  round  the  family  table.  Tell  me,  if  I  do 
not  see  you.  There  is  mother,  on  the  right  of  the 
table,  with  her  knitting,  and  a  book  open  before  her ; 
and  anon  she  glances  her  eyes  from  the  work  on 
paper  to  that  on  her  needles  ;  now  counts  the  stitches, 
and  then  puts  her  eye  on  the  book,  and  starts  off  for 
another  round.  There  is  Mary,  looking  wise,  and 
sewing  with  all  her  might,  now  and  then  stopping  to 
give  Sarah  and  Louisa  a  lift  in  getting  their  lessons, 
and  trying  to  initiate  them  into  the  mysteries  of  ge- 
ography. She  is  on  the  left  of  the  table.  There,  in 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  95 

Letter  from  a  son. 

the  back  ground,  is  silent  Joseph,  with  his  slate,  now 
making  a  mark,  and  then  biting  his  lip,  or  scratching 
his  head,  to  see  if  the  algebraic  expression  may  have 
hidden  in  either  of  those  places.  George  is  in  the 
kitchen,  tinkering  his  skates,  or  contriving  a  trap  for  that 
old  offender  of  a  rat,  whose  cunning  has  so  long  brought 
mortification  upon  all  his  boastings.  I  can  now  hear 
his  hammer,  and  his  whistle — that  peculiar,  sucking-sort 
of  whistle,  which  always  indicates  a  puzzled  state  of 
the  brain.  Little  William  and  Henry  are  snug  in  bed, 
and,  if  you  will  just  open  their  bed-room  door,  you  will 
barely  hear  them  breathe.  And  now,  mother  has 
stopped,  and  is  absent  and  thoughtful,  and  my  heart 
tells  me  that  she  is  thinking  of  her  only  absent  child. 
Who  can  he  be  ?  Will  you  doubt  any  more  that  I  have 
studied  magic,  and  can  see  with  my  back,  turned  to 
you,  and  many  a  hill  and  valley  between  us  ? 

You  have  been  even  kinder  than  I  expected,  or 
you  promised.  I  did  not  expect  to  hear  from  you  till 
to-morrow,  at  the  earliest.  But  as  I  was  walking,  to- 
day, one  of  my  class-mates  cries,  "  A  bundle  for  you 
at  the  stage-office ! "  and  away  I  went  as  fast  as  the 
dignity  of  a  sophomore  would  allow  me.  The  bundle 
I  seized,  and  muffled  it  under  my  cloak,  though  it 
made  my  arm  ache,  and,  with  as  much  speed  as  my 
"  conditions  "  would  permit  me,  I  reached  my  room. 
Out  came  my  knife,  and,  forgetting  all  your  good  ad- 
vice about  "  strings  and  fragments,"  the  said  bundle 


96  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

Letter  from  a  son. 

quickly  owned  me  victor,  and  opened  its  very  heart  to 
me ;  and  it  had  a  warm  heart  too,  for  there  were  the 
stockings,  (they  are  now  on  my  feet,  i.e.  one  pair,) 
and  there  were  the  flannels,  and  the  bosoms,  and  the 
gloves,  and  the  pincushion  from  Louisa,  and  the 
needle-book  from  Sarah,  and  the  paper  from  Mary, 
and  the  letters  and  love  from  'all  of  you.  I  spread 
open  my  treasures,  and  both  my  heart  and  feet  danced 
for  joy,  while  my  hands .  actually  rubbed  each  other 
out  of  sympathy.  Thanks  to  you  all,  for  bundle,  and 
letters,  and  love.  One  corner  of  my  eye  is  now  moist- 
ened, while  I  say,  "  Thank  ye  all,  gude  folks."  I  must 
not  forget  to  mention  the  apples — "the  six  apples, 
one  from  each  " — and  the  beautiful  little  loaf  of  cake. 
I  should  not  dare  call  it  little,  if  it  had  not  brought  the 
name  from  you.  The  apples  I  have  smelled  of,  and 
the  cake  I  have  just  nibbled  a  little,  and  pronounce  it 
to  be  "  in  the  finest  taste." 

Now,  a  word  about  your  letters.  I  cannot  say 
much,  for  I  have  only  read  mother's  three  times,  and 
Mary's  twice.  Those  parts  which  relate  to  my  own 
acts  and  doings,  greatly  edify  me.  Right  glad  to  find 
that  the  spectacles  fitted  mother's  eyes  so  well.  You 
wondered  how  I  hit  it.  Why,  have  I  not  been  told 
from  my  very  babyhood,  "  You  have  your  mother's 
eyes  ?  "  And  what  is  plainer,  than  that,  if  I  have  her 
eyes,  I  can  pick  out  glasses  that  will  fit  them  ?  I  am 
glad,  too,  that  the  new  book  is  a  favorite.  I  shall 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  97 


Letter  from  a  son. 


have  to  depend  on  you  to  read  for  me,  for  here  I  read 
nothing  but  my  lexicon,  and,  peradventure,  dip  into 
mathematics.  Joseph's  knife  shall  be  forthcoming,  and 
the  orders  of  William  and  Heary  shall  be  honored, 
if  the  apothecary  has  the  pigments.  "  George  is  de- 
lighted with  his  new  sled  " — *•%.  cheering  item  ;  for  my 
thumb  has  retired  into  his  cot,  and  growled  and  ached 
ever  since,  and  even  now,  ever  and  anon,  gives  me  a 
twinge,  by  way  of  recalling  the  feat  of  building  the 
sled.  And  you  really  think  the  pigs  have  profited  by 
my  labors,  and  that,  though  they  have  forgotten  me, 
yet  they  like  the  sty  \  If  they  do  well,  I  shall  be- 
paid  next  fall,  whether  they  are  grateful  or  not. 
Old  Charley  should  be  kept  warm.  He  has  carried 
us  too  many  miles  to  be  neglected  now.  I  am  sorry  1 
did  not  have  his  condition  more  in  mind  when  at  home. 
Poor  fellow,  I  enjoyed  his  aid,  and  helped  to  make 
him  grow  old.  And  old  Rover,  let  him  have  his  new 
kennel  warm ;  and  if  he  thinks  so  much  of  me  as  to. 
"go  to  my  room"  after  me,  let  him  have  my  old 
wrapper.  One  member  more, — tell  Sukey  that, 
though  I  mention  her  after  horses  and  dogs,  it  is  not 
out  of  any  want  of  respect.  I  will  wear  the  mittens 
which  she  knit  and  sent,  and,  in  return,  though  I  can-- 
not approve,  will  send  as  much,  at  least,  of  "  real 
Scotch,"  as  will  fill  her  box. 

I  suppose  the  pond  is  all  frozen  over,  and  the  skat- 
ing good.     I  know  it  is  foolish ;  yet,  if  mother  and 
7 


98  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Letter  from  a  son. 

Mary  had  skated  as  many  "  moony  "  nights  as  I  have, 
they  would  sigh,  not  at  the  thought,  but  at  the  fact 
that  skating  days  are  over.  Never  was  a  face  more 
bright  and  beautiful  than  the  face  of  that  pond  in  a 
clear,  cold  night,  under  a  full  moon.  Do  the  boys  go 
down  by  my  willow  still  ?  and  do  they  still  have  the 
flag  on  the  little  island  in  the  centre,  where  I  used  to 
rear  ,  the  flag-staff  once  a  year?  I  was  going  to  tell 
you  all  about  college.  But  when  I  think  I  will  begin, 
pop! — my  thoughts  are  all  at  home  !  What  a  place 
home  is !  I  would  not  now  exchange  ours  for  wealth 
enough  to  make  you  all  kings  and  queens. 

I  am  warm,  well,  and  comfortable :  we  all  study 
some ;  and  dull  fellows  like  me  have  to  confess  that 
we  study  hard.  We  have  no  genius  to  help  us. 
My  chum  is  a  good  fellow : — he  now  sits  in  yonder 
corner — his  feet  poised  upon  the  stove  in  such  a  way, 
that  the  dullness  seems  to  have  all  run  out  of  his  heels 
into  his  head,  for  he  is  fast  asleep. 

I  have  got  it  framed,  and  there  it  hangs — the  pic- 
ture of  my  father!  I  never  look  up  without  seeing  it, 
and  I  never  see  it  without  thinking  that  my  mother  is 
a  widow,  and  that  I  am  her  eldest  son.  What  more 
I  think,  I  will  not  be  fool  enough  to  say :  you  will 
imagine  it  better  than  I  can  say  it. 

Your  gentle  hint,  dear  mother,  about  leaving  my 
Bible  at  home,  was  kind ;  but  it  will  relieve  you  to 
know  that  I  left  it  designedly,  and,  in  its  place,  took 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  99 

Effects  of  letter-writing.  Choosing  friends. 

ray  dear  father's  from  the  upper  shelf  in  our  little 
library  room ;  and  what  is  more,  I  read  it  every  day. 

I  need  not  say,  Write !  write !  for  I  know  that  some 
of  you  will,  at  the  end  of  three  weeks.  But  love  to 
you  all,  and  much  too.  I  shall  tell  you  of  my  methods 
of  economy  in  my  next. 

Your  affectionate  son,  &ic." 

Can  any  of  my  readers  doubt  but  a  letter  like  the 
above,  would  do  much  to  alleviate  the  anxiety  of  the 
mother,  and  add  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  the  family  ? 
Every  son  can  show  such  attentions,  and  at  the  same 
time  keep  his -own  heart  warm  with  the  remem- 
brances of  home  and  kindred.  It  will  add  to  your  ease 
in  letter-writing,  and  it  will  cultivate  some  of  the  no- 
blest and  sweetest  virtues  of  which  the  heart  is  sus- 
ceptible. 

I  would  say  a  few  words  on  the  choice  and  treat- 
ment of  friends ;  and,  as  this  subject  is  treated  of  by 
almost  every  writer,  I  shall  be  brief.  You  mast  have 
some,  and  will  have  some,  with  whom  you  are  more 
intimate  than  with  the  rest  of  your  companions. 
There  are  two  special  difficulties  attending  friendships ; 
first,  it  is  hard  to  acquire  a  real  friend ;  and,  secondly, 
it  is  still  harder  to  keep  him.  The  acquaintance, 
which  is  afterwards  ripened  into  friendship,  is,  of 
course,  in  the  first  place,  casual.  And  those  who  are 
6rst  to  extend  the  hand  to  embrace  you.  are  seldom 


100  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

What  traits  of  character  necessary. 

those  whose  friendship  continues  long.  Be  cautious 
in  selecting  your  friends,  and  look  long  and  well  be- 
fore you  allow  any  one  to  say,  that  he  is  your  bosom- 
companion,  and  that  you  share  each  other's  thoughts 
and  secrets.  In  selecting  your  friends,  you  will  re- 
member that  you  will  borrow  habits,  traits  of  charac- 
ter, modes  of  thought  and  expression,  from  each  other ; 
and,  therefore,  be  careful  to  select  those  who  have  not 
excellences  merely,  but  whose  faults  are  as  few  as 
may  be.  Some  rely  too  much  upon  friends,  and  think 
they  will  never  pass  away,  and  never  change.  Oth- 
ers, who  have  known,  by  experience,  that  friends  may 
do  both,  will  tell  you  that  friendship  is^'  but  a  name," 
and  means  nothing.  Extremes  are  never  in  the 
right.  There  is  much,  both  of  wisdom  and  beauty,,  in 
the  following  remarks.  They  are  not  taken  from  the 
writings  of  Confucius,  else  had  they  been  set  in  gold 
long  since. 

"  Sweet  language  will  multiply  friends,  and  a  fair- 
speaking  tongue  will  multiply  kind  greetings.  Be  in 
peace  with  many :  nevertheless,  have  but  one  counsel- 
lor in  a  thousand.  If  thou  wouldst  get  a  friend,  prove, 
him  first,  and  be  not  hasty  to  credit  him ;  for  some 
man  is  a  friend  for  his  own  occasion,  and  will  not  abide 
in  the  day  of  thy  trouble.  Separate  thyself  from 
thine  enemies,  and  take  heed  to  thy  friends.  A  faith- 
ful friend  is  a  strong  defence,  and  he  that  hath  found 
such  a  one,  hath  found  a  treasure.  A  faithful  friend 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  101 

Beautiful  maxims.  Esteem  necessary  to  friendship. 

is  the  medicine  oflife.  Forsake  not  an  old  friend,  for 
the  new  is  not  comparable  to  him :  a  new  friend  is  as 
new  wine :  when  it  is  old,  thou  shall  drink  it  with 
pleasure.  Whoso  casteth  a  stone  at  the  birds  frayeth 
them  away,  and  he  that  upbraideth  his  friend  break- 
eth  friendships  ;  for  upbraiding,  or  pride,  or  disclosing 
of  secrets,  or  a  treacherous  wound,  every  friend  will 
depart." 

"  Verbum  dulce  multiplicat  amicos,  et  lingua  eucharis 
in  bono  homine  abundat.  Multi  pacific!  sint  tibi,  et 
consiliarius  sit  tibi  unus  de  mille.  Si  possides  amicum, 
in  tentatione  posside  eum,  et  ne  facile  credas  ei.  Est 
enirn  amicus  secundum  tempus  suurn,  et  non  perma- 
nebit  in  die  tribulationis.  Ab  inimicis  tuis,  separare, 
et  ab  amicis  tuis  attende.  Amicus  fidelis,  protectio 
-fortis;  qui  autem  invenit  ilium,  invenit  thesaurum. 
Amicus  fidelis,  medicamentum  vitae.  Ne  derelin- 
•quas  amicum  antiquum :  novus  enim  non  erit  similis 
jlli :  vinum  novum,  amicus  novus,  veterascet,  et  cum 
suavitate  bibes  illud.  Mittens  lapidem  in  volatilia, 
dejiciet  ilia :  sic  et  qui  convitiatur  amico,  dissoluit  am- 
icitiam :  convitiis,  et  superbia,  et  mysterii  revelatione, 
et  plaga  dolosa, — in  his  omnibus  effugiet  amicus."  * 

No  one  can  long  be  your  friend  for  whom  you  have 
not  a  decided  esteem — an  esteem  that  will  not  permit 

*  The  lover  of  classical  Latin  will  please  to  remember,  that  I 
no  more  claim  credit  for  the  Latin,  than  for  the  beautiful  senti- 
ments so  inelegantly  expressed  in  it. 


102        THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Envy  not  allowed.  Qualifications  of  a  friend. 

you  to  trifle  with  his  feelings,  and  which,  of  course, 
will  prevent  his  trifling  with  yours.  Great  familiarity 
is  inconsistent  with  any  abiding  friendship. 

"  The  man  who  hails  you  Torn,  or  Jack, 
And  proves,  by  thumping  on  your  back, 

His  sense  of  your  great  merit, 
Is  such  a  friend  that  one  had  need 
Be  very  much  his  friend  indeed, 

To  pardon  or  to  bear  it" 

You  will  soon  be  ashamed  to  love  one  for  whom 
you  have  not  a  high  esteem.  Love  will  only  follow 
esteem.  In  order  to  have  or  keep  a  friend,  you  must 
not  have  a  particle  of  envy  towards  him,  however  ex- 
alted his  character  or  merits.  Says  a  beautiful  writer, 
"  He  who  can  once  doubt  whether  he  should  rejoice 
in  his  friend's  being  happier  than  himself,  may  depend 
upon  it,  that  he  is  an  utter  stranger  to  this  virtue." 

You  will  always  observe  that  those  friendships 
which  are  the  purest,  and  the  most  abiding,  are  chosen 
for  the  good  qualities  of  the  heart,  rather  than  for 
those  of  the  head.  I  should  be  sorry  to  give  the  im- 
pression, that  the  finest  qualities  of  the  heart  may  not 
accompany  the  highest  intellectual  character;  and  I 
am  satisfied  that  there  is  no  good  reason  why  they  do 
not.  But  it  has  been  shrewdly  remarked,  "  I  do  not 
remember  that  Achates,  who  is  represented  as  the 
first  favorite,  either  gives  his  advice,  or  strikes  a  blow, 
through  the  whole  ^Eneid." 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL  103 

How  to  keep  friends.  The  great  duty  of  friendship. 

Prudence  is  a  prime  quality  in  a  friend ;  and  zeal 
and  noise  are  not  always  indicative  of  the  greatest 
ability  or  desire  to  do  you  good.  But  in  order  to 
have  a  true  friend,  you  must  determine  to  be  to  him 
just  what  you  wish  him  to  be  to  you.  While  I  would 
recommend  every  young  man  to  commit  to  memory 
the  whole  of  Cowper's  beautiful  description  of 
"  Friendship,"  I  would  particularly  request  him  to 
keep  the  following  sentiment  uppermost : 

"  Who  seeks  a  friend,  should  come  disposed 
T'  exhibit,  in  full  bloom  disclosed, 

The  graces  and  the  beauties 
That  form  the  character  he  seeks ; 
For  'tis  a  union  that  bespeaks 

Reciprocated  duties." 

A  similarity  of  inclinations  is  by  no  means  essential 
to  a  perfect  and  abiding  friendship.  We  admire  those 
traits  of  character  which  we  do  not  ourselves  possess. 
They  are  new  to  us,  and  we  feel  that  from  them  we 
can  supply  our  own  defects. 

Although  it  is  considered  one  great  duty  of  friend- 
ship to  discover  faults,  and  give  reproofs,  yet  it  is  a 
dangerous  duty.  It  must  be  done  very  delicately  and 
kindly,  and  be  sure  not  too  frequently.  There  were 
once  two  friends,  room-mates,  who  agreed  that,  every 
night,  they  would  tell  each  other  every  thing,  which 
they  had  seen  during  the  day,  which  was  in  the  least 
degree  out  of  the  way.  They  did  so  a  while.  They 


104  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  true  duty  of  a  friend.  Veracity  essential. 

"did  it  kindly ;  but  it  was  too  much  for  poor  human 
nature.  They  soon  parted,  and  took  new  rooms,  but 
without  ever  disclosing  to  each  other  the  true  cause, 
•even  if  they  were  conscious  of  it  at  the  time*  I  do 
not,  on  the  whole,  believe  it  is  the  appropriate  busi- 
ness of  a  friend  to  discover  faults  and  reprove  you — 
but  it  is,  to  support  you  in  high  and  noble  pursuits, 
raising  your  spirits,  and  adding  to  your  courage,  till 
you  out-do  yourself.  Are  those  families  the  happiest, 
where  every  member  is  to  be  tried  by  a  constant  or 
frequent  fault-finding  ?  far  from  it.  If  .you  wish  your 
friend  to  do  well,  encourage  him,  sustain  him  when 
in  trials  or  troubles,  and  thus  you  become  the  "  med- 
icine of  life."  Cultivate  your  old  friends  :  but  you 
must  form  new  ones  also ;  for  our  changes  by  removal 
and  death  are  so  frequent,  that  he  who  now  makes  no 
new  friends  will  soon  find  himself  without  any.  Need 
it  be  said,  that  a  strict  and  unwavering  regard  for  truth 
is  absolutely  essential  to  having  friends  ?  We  do  not 
wish  to  be  associated  with  those  whose  veracity  can, 
in  the  least,  be  suspected.  "  When  speech  is  em- 
ployed as  the  vehicle  of  falsehood,  every  man  must 
disunite  himself  from  others,  inhabit  his  own  cave,  and 
seek  prey  only  for  himself,"  and  in  vain  ask  or  seek 
for  a  friend. 

I  have  dwelt  somewhat  on  this  point, — longer,  per- 
haps, than  was  to  be  expected,  under  the  title  of  this 
chapter.  But  it  is  my  wish  that  all  my  readers  may 


T»E  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  105 

Part  of  daily  habits  to  cultivate  friends. 

have  friends,  select,  disinterested  friends ;  and  I  know 
that  they  cannot,  unless  they  make  it  a  part  of  their 
daily  habits  and  business  to  cultivate  their  own  hearts, 
and  render  themselves  worthy  of  being  beloved.  The 
tree  cannot  live  and  thrive  without  great  care  ;  but  if  it 
receive  that  care,  it  will  bear  fruit  abundantly  for  many 
years.  How  often  has  the  heart  of  my  reader  thrilled 
at  the  warm  greetings  of  one  who  said,  "  Your  father 
and  I  were  friends !  "  Friendship  can  lessen  no  joy 
by  having  a  sharer.  It  brightens  every  one.  At  the 
same  time,  it  diminishes  sorrow,  in  every  shape,  by 

dividing  the  burden. 

^k 
"  Hast  thou  a  friend  ? — thou  hast  indeed 

A  rich  and  large  supply — 
Treasure  to  serve  your  every  need, 
Well  managed,  till  you  die." 


.-.      . 


CHAPTER  III. 

STUDY. 

WHEN  the  company  had  wearied  themselves  in 
trying  to  make  an  egg  stand  on  its  end,  they  were 
amazed  at  the  simplicity  of  the  thing,  when  once  they 
had  seen  Columbus  do  it. 

"  Why,  any  body  can  do  that ! " 

"  Why,  then,  did  you  not  ? "  was  the  searching 
reply. 

It  seems  to  be  an  easy  affair  to  study.  There  is 
the  room,  and  there  the  books  ^nd  there  the  lesson  : 
what  more  do  you  want  ?  You  want  to  know  how  to 
go  to  work — how  to  study.  The  interruptions  to 
study,  even  when  the  student  has  nothing  else  to  do, 
— not  a  care,  not  a  burden  of  any  kind  to  trouble  him, 
— are  numerous  and  vexatious.  Deductions  must  be 
made  for  ill  health,  and  seasons  when  the  spirits  droop, 
and  when  there  is  a  total  disrelish  for  study,  and  a 
want  of  courage,  by  which  the  mind  can  be  brought 
up  to  action ;  for  a  total  ignorance  of  the  best  methods 
of  studying ;  for  the  interruptions  of  companions  who 
have  yawned  over  their  own  books,  till  they  could 
make  little  or  nothing  out  of  them,  and  then  have  come 
to  get  sympathy  and  countenance  from  others ;  for 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         107 

Interruptions  cannot  be  avoided.  Number  of  hours  of  study. 

the  time  wasted  in  reading  novels,  or  other  useless 
books ;  and,  above  all,  for  that  natural,  inherent  indo- 
lence, which  recoils  from  the  task  of  rebuking  the 
wandering  of  the  thoughts,  and  bringing  them  back 
to  their  prescribed  tasks.  Escaping  from  home  will 
not  relieve  the  difficulty ;  neither  will  removing  from 
one  school  to  another,  or  changing  one  college  for 
another.  You  must  make  up  your  mind  that  no  one 
can  go  on  in  a  course  of  study  without  interruptions 
from  within  and  from  without.  Calculate  upon  this. 
And  it  is  well  that  it  is  so ;  for,  in  real  life,  if  you  can 
get  two  full  hours  in  a  week  without  interruption,  you 
may  think  it  extraordinary.  The  mind  must  form  the 
habit  of  being  checked  and  interrupted,  and  of  bring- 
ing itself  back  to  the  point  from  which  it  was  taken 
off,  and  at  once  pursuing  the  train  of  mental  operations 
in  which  it  was  engaged.  Till  this  power  is  obtained, 
you  are  not  prepared  for  active  life ;  and  in  propor- 
tion as  it  is  acquired,  in  that  proportion  will  little  hin- 
derances  appear  to  you  of  little  consequence.  I  pro- 
pose to  make  some  suggestions  in  the  form  of  hints 
in  relation  to  study,  not  so  much  regarding  the  order 
of  their  introduction,  as  endeavoring  not  to  omit  any 
that  are  of  real  importance. 

1.   The  number  of  hours  of  daily  study. 

No  fixed  time  can  be  marked  out  for  all.  This 
must  vary  with  the  constitution  of  each  individual.  A 
mind  that  moves  slowly  requires  and  will  bear  more 


•    .  i   .  *-.• 


108  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

German  students.  Severe  application. 

time  for  study.  In  Germany,  the  students  spend 
many  more  hours  than  we  can  in  this  country.  I 
have  tried  to  account  for  the  fact,  that,  with  their  pre- 
posterous habits  of  eating  and  indolence,  they  can 
study  so  many  hours  in  a  day,  and  that  to  extreme  old 
age.  Doubtless  national  habits  do  something ;  indi- 
vidual habits  do  something ;  but  these  will  not  account 
for  it.  Many  of  them  will  study  sixteen  hours  a  day ; 
few  of  them  less  than  thirteen.  We  should  all  die 
under  it !  The  difference  may  be  attributed  to  two 
causes,  for  the  correctness  of  which  I  cannot  vouch ; 
viz.  their  mental  operations  are  slower  than  ours, 
and  their  climate  is  less  variable  and  better  adapt- 
ed to  a  student's  life.  Few,  in  our  own  country, 
ever  studied  half  as  much  as  they  have,  if  hours 
are  to  be  the  criterion.  But  another  remark  may 
here  be  made.  Germany  is  distinguished  for  the 
study  of  the  classics,  for  the  making  of  lexicons  and 
commentaries,  and  for  studies  of  such  a  nature  as 
require  diligence  and  accuracy,  but  make  no  very 
great  draft  upon  the  soul.  Be  this  -as  it  may,  it  is 
certain  that  we  must  do  what  we  do,  by  way  of 
daily  study,  in  fewer  hours;  and,  in  my  view,  it  is 
vastly  better  to  chain  the  attention  down  closely,  and 
study  hard,  a  few  hours,  than  to  try  to'  keep  it  moder- 
ately fixed  and  engaged  for  a  greater 'length  of  time. 
Our  most  successful  students  seldom  study  over  six 
<faours  in>a  day.  In  this  I  include  nothing  of  recita- 


THE  STUDENTS  MANUAL. 


Positions  of  the  body. 


tions,  of  desultory,  half-formed  impulses  of  the 
mind  ;  but  I  mean,  real,  hard,  devoted  study.  He 
who  would  study  six  hours  a  day,  with  all  the  atten- 
tion of  which  the  soul  is  capable,  need  not  fear  but  he 
will  yet  stand  high  in  his  calling.  But  mark  me,  —  it 
must  be  study  as  intense  as  the  soul  will  bear.  The  at- 
tention must  all  be  absorbed  ;  the  thoughts  must  all  be 
brought  in,  and  turned  upon  the  object  of  study,  as 
you  would  turn  the  collected  rays  of  the  sun  into 
the  focus  of  the  glass,  when  you  would  get  fire  from 
those  rays.  Do  not  call  miscellaneous  reading,  or  any 
thing  which  you  do  by  way  of  relief  or  amusement, 
study  :  it  is  not  study.  Be  sure  to  get  as  much  of 
your  study  in  the  morning  as  possible.  The  mind  is 
then  in  good  order.  Aurora  musis  arnica,  necnon 
vespera. 

2.  Have  regard  to  the  positions  of  the  body  while 
engaged  in  study. 

Some  men,  from  early  life,  habituate  themselves  to. 
study,  sitting  at  a  low,  flat  table.  This  ought  to  be 
avoided  ;  for,  as  you  advance  in  life,  that  part  of  the 
body  which  is  between  the  shoulders  and  hips,  becomes 
more  and  more  feeble,  and  consequently  the  stooping 
habit  is  acquired.  Few  literary  men  walk  or  sit  per- 
fectly erect.  Standing  is  undoubtedly  the  best  method 
of  study,  if  you  will  only  begin  in  this  way.  In  wri- 
ting, in  the  study  of  languages,  and  most  kinds  of  math- 
ematics, you  must  be  confined  to  one  spot.  If  you 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


Grimke's  plan.  Chairs  and  lights. 


can  change  positions,  and  stand  a  part,  and  sit  a  part 
of  the  time,  it  will  be  well  ;  but  the  former  should  pre- 
ponderate. As  you  advance  in  life,  you  will  naturally 
sit  more  and  more,  till  the  habit  becomes  fixed.  Few 
men  are  seen  standing  at  their  books  after  forty  years 
of  age.  The  late  talented,  and  lamented  Grirnke,  in- 
forms us  that  he  uniformly  stood,  and  did  most  of  his 
studying  while  walking  in  his  room.  If  you  are  com- 
posing, or  reading,  or  committing  to  memory,  this 
position  is  a  desirable  one.  Be  sure  you  have  your  ta- 
ble high  enough,  and  keep  clear  of  the  rocking-chair, 
with  a  writing  leaf  on  the  arm  of  it.  Sitting  in  such 
a  chair  gives  the  body  a  twisting  position,  which  is  al- 
most sure  to  lead  to  poor  health,  chid  not  unfrequently 
to  the  grave.  If  possible,  place  your  table,  the  top  of 
which  should  so  slope  a  little,  that  the  light  may,  fall 
upon  you  from  behind.  This  will  be  a  kindness  to 
the  eyes.  In  the  evening,  it  is  well  to  have  the  lamp 
shaded,  or  to  have  a  shade  drawn  over  the  eyes.  I 
would  hope,  however,  that  you  keep  your  lessons  so 
much  in  advance,  that  the  necessity  of  putting  your 
eyes  to  a  severe  trial,  will  be  avoided.  If  your  eyes 
are  weak,  be  careful  that  a  glare  of  light  does  not  fall 
upon  them  ;  and  be  sure  to  wash  them  in  cold  water 
the  last  thing  at  night,  and  the  first  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  great  desideratum  in  the  choice  of  positions, 
is,  to  keep  the  body  as  straight  as  possible.  A  bending 
at  the  chest  is  by  all  means  to  be  avoided.  Your 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  Ill 

No  conversation  in  study  hours.  Studying  aloud. 

dress,  even  to  the  slipper,  should  sit  as  loosely  as  possi- 
ble ;  and  the  house  which  is  now  to  stand  still,  and  in 
which  the  mind  is  to  labor,  should  be  as  easy  as  it  can 
be,  without  assuming  a  position  which,  by  long  habit, 
will  court  the  embrace  of  sleep. 

3.  Let  there  be  no  conversation  in  the  hours  of  study. 

This  direction  goes  on  the  supposition  that  you 
have  a  room-mate,  which  is  usually  the  case.  A  les- 
son is  easily  spoiled  by  being  interrupted,  every  now 
and  then,  with  some  question,  raised  on  that,  or  on  some 
other  subject.  You  cannot  study  to  advantage  if  any 
conversation  is  allowed  in  the  room.  But  what  if  you 
find  a  word  in  your  lesson,  whose  meaning  or  whose 
parsing  you  cannot  determine  ?  What  is  to  be  done  ? 
May  you  not  ask  your  friend  ?  I  reply,  no.  Keep  the 
room  silent.  If  you  wish  to  review  and  compare  to- 
gether, then  begin  a  half  hour  earlier,  and  leave  off 
half  an  hour  before  reciting,  and  in  this  time,  go  over 
the  lesson  together.  Have  the  words,  about  which 
you  doubted,  just  marked  with  a  pencil,  and  then  set- 
tle their  meaning  and  their  relations.  This  review 
should  not  take  place  till  you  have  each  exhausted 
your  own  efforts  upon  the  lesson,  and  until  you  have 
definitely  settled  every  word  and  every  sentence. 

Some  are  in  the  habit  of  studying  aloud  together, 
or  in  small  clubs ; — a  very  bad  practice.  The  habit  is 
soon  formed,  so  that  the  mind  refuses  to  make  any 
efforts  alone ;  and  then  it  becomes  necessary  to  have 


112  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Thorough  study.  How  to  conquer  a  country. 

a  constant  "  Bee  "  to  aid  it,,just  as  the  partially  civil- 
ized tribes  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  refuse  even  to  thatch 
a  cottage,  unless  they  have  a  great  company  to  work 
together.  This  cannot  be  the  mode  of  study  through 
life  ;  and  no  habit  should  now  be  allowed,  which  will 
be  troublesome  hereafter.  The  sagacity  and  perse- 
verance of  our  own  minds  are  to  be  the  ultimate  re- 
sources on  which  we  shall  all  be  obliged  to  rely.  But 
if  the  tongue  refuses  to  be  silent,  and  conversation 
cannot  be  banished  from  your  room,  be  careful  to  have 
it  on  the  lesson,  and  on  no  other  subject. 

4.  Be  thorough  in  every  study. 

Passing  over  a  field  of  study  has  been  graphically 
compared  to  conquering  a  country.  If  you  thorough- 
ly conquer  every  thing  you  meet,  you  will  pass  on 
from  victory  to  victory ;  but  if  you  leave  here  and 
there  a  fort  or  a  garrison  not  subdued,  you  will  soon 
have  an  army  hanging  on  your  rear,  and  your  ground 
will  soon  need  re-conquering.  Never  pass  over  a 
single  thing,  however  minute,  or  apparently  of  little 
consequence,  without  understanding  all  that  can  be 
known  about  it.  "  Socrates  ille  non  hominum  modo, 
verum  etiam  Apollinis  oraculo,  sapientissimus  judica- 
tus,  et  perennis  Philosophies  Fons,  dicere  solet :  'Ra- 
dicem  quidem  eruditionis  peramarum  esse,  sed  fruc- 
tum  habere  jucundissimum ;  initioque  magnos  adferre 
labores,  sed  honestissimum  sudantibus  praemium  re- 
ponere.'  Ergo,  O  Tu,  quisquis  es,  cui  ignea  vis  in 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  113 

Inaccurate  scholars,  how  made. 

pectore  exarsit,  cui  flamma  in  praecordiis  micat,  procul 
absint  mollia,  lenia,  facilia,  blanda,  quae  animi  ineptum 
extinguere  solent.  Dura  petamus." 

He  who  accustoms  himself  to  pass  over  a  word  or 
sentence,  or  a  single  point  of  mathematical  inquiry, 
without  thoroughly  understanding  every  thing  that  can 
be  known  about  it,  will  soon  be  known  as  an  inaccu- 
rate scholar  ;  will  feel  but  half  confident  on4  any  sub- 
ject ;  and,  what  is  worse,  will  have  acquired  a  habit 
which  will  forever  make  his  knowledge  vague  and  un- 
certain, both  to  himself  and  to  others.  There  is  such 
a  constant  mortification  and  loss  of  self-respect  attend- 
ing the  habit  of  going  upon  the  surface,  that,  were  it 
only  for  personal  comfort,  you  should  be  thorough. 
At  the  first  setting  out,  your  progress  will  be  slower 
— perhaps  very  slow ;  but,  in  the  long  race  before  you, 
you  will  be  the  gainer.  How  often  have  I  seen  a 
man,  with  a  mind  originally  bright,  chagrined  and 
humbled  at  his  want  of  accuracy !  He  makes  an  as- 
sertion, and  calls  it  a  quotation  from  some  distinguish- 
ed author.  "  Does  Burke  say  so,  and  advocate  that 
sentiment  ?  I  never  understood  him  so,"  says  an  ac- 
curate listener.  He  now  begins  to  hesitate — apolo- 
gizes— says  it  is  a  great  while  since  he  read  Burke,  but 
such  is  his  impression.  Has  he  not  fallen  in  the  esti- 
mation ol  every  one  present,  and  in  his  own  also  ?  And 
yet,  such  is  the  habit  fixed  upon  him,  that  he  will  go  and 
again  tread  over  the  same  ground  with  hesitating  steps. 
8 


114  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  two  farms.  Example  from  Moliere. 

Two  farms  may  lie  side  by  side ;  the  one  may  be 
"run  over"  by  the  hand  of  the  cultivator.  Here,  is 
a  poor  spot  of  mowing,  and  there,  a  miserable-look- 
ing corn-field,  and  yonder,  a  wretched  fern  pasture. 
It  covers  a  great  extent  of  territory,  but  no  part  of 
it  is  subdued  or  cultivated.  The  other  farm  has  its 
fences  in  order,  its  mowing  lots  all  side  by  side,  and 
its  fields,  so  far  as  any  thing  is  done,  perfectly  subdu- 
ed. Every  acre  that  claims  to  have  been  subdued, 
will  bear  a  certain,  a  definite,  and  a  full  crop.  Is 
there  any  doubt  which  of  the  two  farms  is  more  prof- 
itable, or  which  method  of  cultivation  is  the  most  wise  ? 

How  much  better  is  knowledge — something  that 
you  know — than  any  amount  of  conjecture  formed 
somewhere  in  the  region  of  knowledge  !  Have  you 
never  seen  the  face  of  an  educated  man — 5.  e.  of  one 
who  ought  to  have  been  educated — gather  a  blank 
upon  it,  at  the  sound  of  a  Latin  or  Greek  quota- 
tion ?  Like  the  hero  in  one  of  Moliere's  comedies, 
he  understands  .it,  but  wishes  it  translated.  The  apt- 
ness and  humor  of  the  case  will  justify  my  quoting  it. 

"  Le  M.  de  Phil.  Ce  sentiment  est  raisonnable ; 
nam  sine  doctrind  vita  est  quasi  mortis  imago.  Vous 
entendez  cela,  et  vous  entendez  le  Latin  sans  doute  ? 

"  M.  Jour.  Oui,  mais  faites  comme  si  je  ne  le 
savais  pas :  expliquez-moi  ce  que  cela  veut  dire ! 

"  Le  M.  de  Phil.  Cela  veut  dire,  que  sans  la  sci- 
ence, la  vie  est  presque  1'image  de  la  mort. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  115 

Example  of  a  thorough  scholar.  Thoughts  to  be  followed. 

"  M.  Jour.     Ce  Latin-la  a  raison." 

Every  thing  should  be  understood  as  far  as  you  go ; 
and  never  should  you  allow  yourself  to  think  of  going 
into  the  recitation-room,  and  there  trust  to  "  skin- 
ning," as  it  is  called  in  some  colleges,  or  "  phrasing," 
as  in  others,  or  "  mouthing  it,"  as  in  others.  No 
man  who  regards  his  reputation  as  a  scholar,  will  ever 
do  this. 

One  lesson  or  one  book,  perfectly  and  thoroughly 
understood,  would  do  you  more  good  than  ten  lessons, 
or  ten  books,  not  half  studied.  Mr.  Evarts,  to  whom 
allusion  has  already  been  made,  read  his  Greek  Testa- 
ment so  thoroughly  while  fitting  for  college,  that  he 
was  in  the  habit,  through  life,  of  readily  repeating  any 
passage  to  which  allusion  was  made.  And  several 
of  our  best  scholars  committed  and  recited  the  whole 
of  Virgil  without  carrying  a  book  into  the  recitation- 
room.  One  of  them,  at  least,  did  the  same  with  the 
whole  of  Horace. 

"  When  you  have  a  mind  to  improve  a  single 
thought,  or  to  be  clear  in  any  particular  point,  do  not 
leave  it  till  you  are  master  of  it.  View  it  in  every 
light.  Try  how  many  ways  you  can  express  it,  and 
which  is  shortest  and  best.  Would  you  enlarge  upon 
it,  hunt  it  down  from  author  to  author ;  some  of 
which  will  suggest  hints  concerning  it,  which,  perhaps, 
never  occurred  to  you  before ;  and  give  every  circum- 
stance its  weight.  Thus,  by  being  master  of  every 


116  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Translations  of  classics. 

subject  as  you  proceed,  though  you  make  but  a  small 
progress  in  [the  number  of  books  which  you  study,] 
you  will  make  a  speedy  one  in  useful  knowledge.  To 
leave  matters  undetermined,  and  the  mind  unsatisfied 
in  what  we  study,  is  but  to  multiply  half-notions,  in- 
troduce confusion,  and  is  the  way  to  make  a  pedant, 
but  not  a  scholar." 

Some  plausible  and  ingenious  things  have  been  said 
in  favor  of  using  translations  to  Latin  and  Greek  au- 
thors. My  own  observation  has  not  been  as  extended 
as  that  of  very  many ;  but,  so  far  as  it  does  go,  I  can 
unhesitatingly  say,  that  I  never  knew  any  other  than 
miserable  scholars  made  by  the  use  of  translations.  I 
have  seen  scholars  use  a  translation  of  Virgil,  another 
of  Horace,  and  as  many  as  they  could  get  to  authors  se- 
lected in  Graeca  Majora;  and  though  they  recited 
smoothly  at  the  time,  and  perhaps  even  better  than 
those  who  dug  it  all  out,  yet  I  am  confident  they  knew 
less  about  Latin  and  Greek  at  the  end  of  every  year. 
I  am  sorry  to  disturb  the  feelings  of  any  reader  who  has 
a  faithful  translation  carefully  put  away  in  his  drawer 
or  desk,  and  at  which  he  now  and  then  so  stealthfully 
peeps ;  but  let  him  continue  to  use  it,  and  I  will  warrant 
him  that  soon,  though  the  reason  may  not  be  assigned,  or 
even  known,  he  will  lose  all  that  respect  which  belongs 
solely  to  a  thorough  student.  I  have  known  those 
who  studied  Horace  with  a  translation,  and  though 
they  went  off  "  smartly"  at  the  time,  not  able,  at  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  117 

Their  effects.  Expect  hard  study. 

end  of  two  years,  to  read  an  ode.  "  Go  to  the  foun- 
tain head.  Read  original  authors,  rather  than  collect 
translated  and  retailed  thoughts.  It  will  give  you 
more  satisfaction,  more  certainty,  more  judgment,  and 
more  confidence,  when  those  authors  are  the  subjects 
of  conversation,  than  you  can  have  by  taking  your 
knowledge  of  them  at  second  hand.  It  is  trusting  to 
translations,  quotations,  and  epitomes,  that  makes  so 
many  half-scholars  so  impertinently  wise." 

Some  friend  may  offer  to  aid  you  by  translations,  or 
by  books  interlined  with  a  pen,  or  by  furnishing  you 
with  mathematical  problems  all  wrought  out.  Such 
kindnesses  ought  to  be  shown  only  to  an  enemy,  whom 
he  would  have  pursued  by  his  vengeance  through  life. 
They  are  the  greatest  cruelties  which  an  enemy  could 
possibly  invent.  If  you  cannot  stand  on  your  own 
feet,  do  not  borrow  crutches  which  will  be  taken  from 
you  soon,  and  which  will  effectually  prevent  you  from 
ever  having  strength  to  walk  alone. 

5.  Expect  to  become  familiar  with  hard  study. 

Study,  which  is  hard  for  one  man,  is  easy  for  an- 
other. Not  only  so,  but  the  study  which  is  easy  to 
you  to-day,  may  be  intolerably  irksome  at  another 
time.  This  is  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  confining  the 
attention  closely.  The  health  being  the  same,  study 
would  at  all  times  be  equally  agreeable,  had  we  the 
same  command  over  the  attention.  But  who,  that  has 
tried  it,  does  not  know  how  much  easier  it  is  to  study 


118  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

President  Dwight. 

on  a  cold,  stormy  day  in  winter,  when  every  thing 
without  is  repulsive,  than  on  the  warm,  bright  day  of 
spring,  when  all  nature  seems  to  invite  you  out,  and 
when  the  soul  seems  to  disdain  and  rebel  against  the 
restraints  of  study?  You  must  make  your  calcula- 
tions to  study  many  hours,  and  at  many  seasons  when 
it  is  disagreeable — when  the  mind  feels  feeble,  and 
the  body  is  languid,  or  is  even  in  pain.  "Other 
things  may  be  seized  on  by  might,  or  purchased  with 
money ;  but  knowledge  is  to  be  gained  only  by 
study." 

So  great  is  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  confine 
the  attention,  that  men  who  have  by  some  unexpected 
providence  lost  their  sight,  have  felt  willing  to  ex- 
change all  that  is  beautiful,  lovely,  and  .cheering,  which 
the  eye  drinks  in,  for  the  increased  power  over  the 
attention  which  this  loss  gave  them.  The  truly  great 
President  Dwight  used  to  consider  the  loss  of  his 
eyes,  a  great  blessing  to  him,  inasmuch  as  it  strength- 
ened the  power  of  attention,  and  compelled  him  to 
think.  You  may  point  to  men,  and  say,  that  "  this 
and  that  distinguished  man  was  not  celebrated  for 
scholarship,  or  any  thing,  unless  for  stupidity,  in  his 
younger  days.  He  had  no  appointment  in  college — 
no  rank  as  a  scholar."  Not  unlikely.  But  be  sure 
of  one  thing ;  and  that  is,  he  never  became  distin- 
guished without,  some  time  or  other,  passing  through 
a  severe  course  of  dry,  hard  study.  He  might  have 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  119 

Testimony  of  Wirt.  How  to  make  practical  men. 

omitted  this  when  young ;  but,  if  so,  the  task  was 
harder  when  he  did  undertake  to  perform  it.  But 
undertake  it  he  must,  and  he  did. 

"  Pater  ipse  colendi 

Haud  facilem  esse  viam  voluit,  primusque  per  artem 
Movit  agros,  curia  acuens  mortalia  corda." 

The  remarks  of  the  lamented  Wirt  should  be  treas- 
ured up  by  every  student.  A  few  of  the  points  upon 
which  he  touches  are  so  much  to  my  purpose,  that  I 
should  do  injustice  to  my  reader  not  to  quote  them. 
"  Take  it  for  granted,  that  there  is  no  excellence 
without  great  labor.  No  mere  aspirations  for  emi- 
nence, however  ardent,  will  do  the  business.  Wish- 
ing, and  sighing,  and  imagining,  and  dreaming  of  great- 
ness, will  never  make  you  great.  If  you  would  get 
to  the  mountain's  top,  on  which  the  temple  of  fame 
stands,  it  will  not  do  to  stand  still,  looking  and  ad- 
miring, and  wishing  you  were  there.  You  must  gird 
up  your  loins,  and  go  to  work  with  all  the  indomita- 
ble energy  of  Hannibal  scaling  the  Alps.  Laborious 
study  and  diligent  observation  of  the  world,  are  both 
indispensable  to  the  attainment  of  eminence.  By 
the  former,  you  must  make  yourself  master  of  all  that 
is  known  of  science  and  letters ;  by  the  latter,  you 
must  know  man  at  large,  and  particularly  the  charac- 
ter and  genius  of  your  own  countrymen.  We  cannot 
all  be  FRANKLINS,  it  is  true;  but,  by  imitating  his 


120  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Franklin's  habits.  How  to  think. 

mental  habits  and  unwearied  industry,  we  may  reach 
an  eminence  we  should  never  otherwise  attain.  Nor 
would  he  have  been  the  Franklin  he  was,  if  he  had 
permitted  himself  to  be  discouraged  by  the  reflec- 
tion that  we  cannot  all  be  Newtons.  It  is  our  busi- 
ness to  make  the  most  of  our  own  talents  and  oppor- 
tunities ;  and,  instead  of  discouraging  ourselves  by 
comparisons  and  impossibilities,  to  believe  all  things 
imaginary  possible,  as,  indeed,  almost  all  things  are, 
to  a  spirit  bravely  and  firmly  resolved.  Franklin  was 
a  fine  model  of  a  practical  man,  as  contradistinguished 
from  a  visionary  theorist,  as  men  of  genius  are  very 
apt  to  be.  He  was  great  in  the  greatest  of  all  good 
qualities — sound,  strong  common  sense.  A  mere  book- 
worm is  a  miserable  driveller ;  and  a  mere  genius,  a 
thing  of  a  gossamer,  fit  only  for  the  winds  to  sport 
with.  Direct  your  intellectual  efforts  principally  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  strong,  masculine  qualities  of  the 
mind.  Learn  (I  repeat  it)  to  think — think  deeply, 
comprehensively,  powerfully;  and  learn  the  simple, 
nervous  language  which  is  appropriate  to  that  kind  of 
thinking.  Read  the  legal  and  political  arguments  of 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  and  those  of  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton which  are  coming  out.  Read  them,  study  them; 
and  observe  with  what  an  omnipotent  sweep  of 
thought  they  range  over  the  whole  field  of  every  sub- 
ject they  take  in  hand, — and  that  with  a  scythe  so 
ample  and  so  keen,  that  not  a  straw  is  left  standing 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  121 

Franklin's  habits.  Brougham's  application. 

behind  them.  Brace  yourself  up  to  these  great 
efforts.  Strike  for  this  giant  character  of  mind,  and 
leave  prettiness  and  frivolity  to  triflers.  It  is  perfect- 
ly consistent  with  these  Herculean  habits  of  thinking, 
to  be  a  laborious  student,  and  to  know  all  that  books  can 
teach.  You  must  never  be  satisfied  with  the  surface 
of  things;  probe  them  to  the  bottom,  and  let  nothing 
go  till  you  understand  it  as  thoroughly  as  your  powers 
will  enable  you.  Seize  the  moment  of  excited  curi- 
osity on  any  subject,  to  solve  your  doubts  ;  for,  if  you 
let  it  pass,  the  desire  may  never  return,  and  you  may 
remain  in  ignorance.  The  habits  which  I  have  been 
recommending  are  not  merely  for  college,  but  for  life. 
Franklin's  habits  of  constant  and  deep  excogitation 
clung  to  him  to  his  latest  hour.  Form  these  habits 
now.  Look  at  Brougham,  and  see  what  a  man  can 
do  if  well  armed  and  well  resolved.  With  a  load  of 
professional  duties  that  would,  of  themselves,  have 
been  appalling  to  the  most  of  our  countrymen,  he  stood, 
nevertheless,  at  the  head  of  his  party  in  the  house  of 
commons,  and,  at  the  same  time,  set  in  motion  and 
superintended  various  primary  schools,  and  various 
periodical  works,  the  most  instructive  and  useful  that 
have  ever  issued  from  the  British  press,  for  which  he 
furnished,  with  his  own  pen,  some  of  the  most  masterly 
contributions,  and  yet  found  time,  not  only  to  keep 
pace  with  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  to 
keep  at  the  head  of  those  whose  peculiar  and  exclu- 


122         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

No  quarrelling  with  studies. 

sive  occupations  these  arts  and  sciences  were.  There 
is  a  model  of  industry  and  usefulness  worthy  of  all 
your  emulation." 

Under  this  head,  I  would  add,  that  he  who  expects 
to  discipline  his  mind  by  hard  study,  and  to  build  up 
the  mind  by  the  habit  of  severe  thinking,  will  not  be 
the  man  to  quarrel  with  what  he  studies.  How  often 
do  we  hear  students  complaining  that  they  are  put  to 
studies  which  can  be  of  no  possible  use  to  them  in 
after  life  !  One  is  to  be  a  merchant :  why  should  he 
be  drilled  in  Latin  and  Greek  for  years  ?  Another  is 
to  study  medicine  ;  and  why  should  he  be  poring  over 
conic  sections  for  months  ?  Multitudes  complain  that 
their  instructors  understand  their  business  so  poorly, 
that  the  very  things  for  which  they  will  never  have 
any  use,  are  forced  upon  them  as  studies  !  Little  do 
such  complainers  understand  the  object  of  an  educa- 
tion. Keep  it  in  mind,  that  the  great  object  of  study 
is  to  fit  the  mind  to  be  an  instrument  of  usefulness  in 
life.  You  are  now  upon  a  dry,  hard,  uninteresting 
study.  It  contains  not  a  single  thing  which  you  can 
ever  use  hereafter.  Be  it  so.  But  if  you  can  com- 
pel your  mind  to  take  hold  and  master  that  dry,  hard, 
uninteresting  study,  you  are  fitting  it  to  obey  you 
through  life,  and  at  any  time  to  do  what  you  bid  it 
do.  Suppose  your  teachers  should  put  you  to  study- 
ing magic — I  do  not  pretend  that  it  would  be  the  best 
possible  study — but  if  they  should,  take  hold  and 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  123 

The  chancellor's  horse.  Geometry. 

study  it  without  quarrelling  with  it.  There  may  be 
nothing  in  magic  which  can  be  of  any  practical  use  in 
life ;  but  perhaps  it  may  do  you  good  to  know  that 
there  is  nothing  useful  in  it ;  and,  at  any  rate,  the  dis- 
cipline of  mind  acquired  by  wading  through  an  unin- 
teresting study,  is  of  immense  value.  It  will  be  time 
enough  to  study  such  things  as  you  propose  to  use, 
when  you  have  your  mind  fitted  to  master  them,  and 
when  they  are  needed.  The  chancellor  of  the  state 
of  New  York  was  noticed,  last  summer,  morning  after 
morning,  on  a  beautiful  young  horse,  accompanying 
the  rail-road  cars,  as  far  as  he  could  go,  before  they 
left  him  by  their  superior  speed.  The  horse  was 
afraid  and  unruly,  and  somewhat  dangerous  at  first, 
but  grew  more  and  more  gentle.  Why  did  he  do 
this  ?  Not  for  pleasure — not  to  aid  him  in  the  severe 
duties  of  his  responsible  station — not  because  he  de- 
lighted to  travel  on  that  road — but  to  discipline  his 
horse,  and  Jit  it  for  future  service. 

You  study  geometry  to-day.  Perhaps  your  life 
may  be  so  busy,  and  your  time  so  occupied  hereafter, 
that  you  may  forget  every  proposition,  and  nothing 
but  the  name  of  the  book  may  remain  to  you.  But 
Plato,  and  every  other  man  who  has  studied  geome- 
try, will  tell  you  that  it  will  strengthen  your  mind,  and 
enable  it  to  think  with  precision.  Geography  and 
chronology  are  not  now  needed,  but  will  soon  be,  in 
order  to  trace  philosophy  through  all  her  branches,  in 


124  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Philosophy.  Perseverance. 

order  to  acquire  a  distinct  and  accurate  idea  of  history, 
and  to  judge  of  the  propriety  of  the  allusions  and  com- 
parisons every  where  meeting  you  in  the  works  of 
genius.  Philosophy  seems  to  open  the  mind,  and  to 
give  it  eyes,  like  the  wings  of  the  cherubim,  in  Eze- 
kiel's  vision,  within  and  without  it.  It  subjects  all  na- 
ture to  our  command,  and  carries  our  conceptions  up 
to  the  Creator.  The  mind  is  liberalized  by  every 
such  study,  and  without  these,  it  can  never  become 
really  great  or  tasteful. 

While  I  would  urge  you  to  hard  study  and  severe 
application,  each  being  a  sine  qua  non  to  success,  you 
must,  at  the  same  time,  feel  sure  that  a  steady,  perse- 
vering course  of  study  will  certainly  place  you  on  an 
eminence.  But  press  onward  in  a  steady  course  of 
daily  application.  A  beautiful  writer,  with  great  vi- 
vacity and  spirit,  says,  "  The  most  usual  way,  among 
young  men  who  have  no  resolution  of  their  own,  is, 
first  to  ask  one  friend's  advice,  and  follow  it  for  some 
time ;  then  to  ask  advice  of  another,  and  turn  to  that ; 
so  of  a  third,  still  unsteady,  always  changing.  How- 
ever, be  assured  that  every  change  of  this  nature  is 
for  the  worse.  People  may  tell  you  of  your  being 
unfit  for  some  peculiar  occupations  in  life ;  but  heed 
them  not.  Whatever  employment  you  follow  with 
perseverance  and  assiduity,  will  be  found  fit  for  you ; 
it  will  be  your  support  in  youth,  and  comfort  in  age. 
In  learning  the  useful  part  of  every  profession,  very 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         125 

The  Icelander.  Excuses. 

moderate  abilities  will  suffice  ;  even  if  the  mind  be  a 
little  balanced  with  stupidity,  it  may,  in  this  case,  be 
useful.  Great  abilities  have  always  been  less  service- 
able to  the  possessors  than  moderate  ones.  Life  has 
been  compared  to  a  race ;  but  the  allusion  still  im- 
proves, by  observing  that  the  most  swift  are  ever  the 
least  manageable." 

Henderson  gives  an  interesting  account  of  his  meet- 
ing with  an  Icelander,  a  poor  man,  in  the  common 
walks  of  life,  who,  to  his  surprise,  could  read  Ger- 
man with  great  ease.  On  inquiring  how  he  came  to 
understand  the  German  language,  he  replied,  that  he 
once  met  with  a  German  book,  and  so  great  was  his 
desire  to  know  what  it  contained,  that  he  could  never 
rest  till  he  had  acquired  the  language  so  as  to  read  it 
with  confidence. 

We  are  in  great  danger  of  being  willing  to  excuse 
ourselves  from  severe  study,  under  the  idea  that  our 
circumstances  are  not  favorable.  We  are  apt  to  fall 
in  with  the  common  notion  that  men  are  made  by  cir- 
cumstances— that  they  are  called  forth,  and  their 
characters  are  thus  formed ;  ,  and  that  almost  every 
man  would  be  great,  and  decided,  and  effective,  were 
he  only  sufficiently  hedged  in  and  pressed  by  circum- 
stances. There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  men  are 
naturally  and  practically  indolent,  and  that  they  need 
powerful  stimulants  and  a  heavy  pressure,  to  awaken 
their  powers  and  call  forth  exertions.  •  We  know  that 


126  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Milton.  Fuller. 

most  men  accomplish  but  very  little.  But  would  they 
under  any  circumstances  ?  Might  not  the  tables  be 
turned,  and  might  we  not  with  as  great  propriety  say, 
and  perhaps  with  equal  truth,  that  men  make  circum- 
stances ?  Was  it  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  or 
the  character  of  Hannibal,  that  enabled  him,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four,  to  guide  the  legions  of  Carthage  over 
the  everlasting,  untrodden  Alps,  and  thunder  at  the 
gates  of  Rome?  Look  at  John  Milton.  What  was 
there  in  his  circumstances  to  press  him  into  greatness  ? 
Shut  out  from  the  light  of  heaven  by  blindness,  most, 
in  his  situation,  would  have  thought  that  they  did  well, 
could  they  have  sung  a  few  tunes,  and  earned  their 
bread  by  making  baskets.  But  Milton! — he  has 
thrown  a  glory  over  his  age,  and  nation,  and  language, 
which  can  be  impaired  only  by  blotting  the  world  out 
of  existence. 

Look  at  Andrew  Fuller ; — without  education,  with- 
out opportunities,  without  circumstances  which  can, 
in  any  way,  be  denominated  favorable,  like  the  birch 
rising  up  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock,  he  stood  far  above 
the  age  and  the  generation  in  which  he  lived. 

But  the  cry  is,  "  We  have  no  favorable  circumstances 
— no  opportunities — no  tools ;  we  can  do  nothing." 
Can  do  nothing !  If  we  have  any  thing  of  the  death- 
less Roman  6re  within — altapetens, — aliquid  Immen- 
sum,  infinitumque — we  have  every  needed  help. 
Many  a  beautiful  ship  has  sat  like  a  swan  upon  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  127 

How  a  student  is  known.          Testimony  of  Professor  Stuart. 

dark-blue  waters,  which  never  had  a  tool  upon  her 
sides,  save  the  axe,  the  auger,  and  the  knife.  Hear 
what  a  master-spirit  says  on  this  point — a  man  whose 
example  has  often  reproved  me,  and  thousands  like 
me. 

"  If  a  man  really  loves  study,  has  an  eager  attach- 
ment to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  nothing  but  pe- 
culiar sickness  or  misfortunes  will  prevent  his  being  a 
student,  and  his  possessing,  in  some  good  degree,  the 
means  of  study.  The  fact  is,  that  when  men  complain 
of  want  of  time  for  study  >  and  want  of  means,  they 
only  show  that,  after  all,  they  are  either  attached  to 
some  other  object  of  pursuit,  or  have  no  part  nor  lot  in 
the  spirit  of  a  student.  They  will  applaud  others,  it 
may  be,  who  do  study,  and  look  with  a  kind  of  won- 
der upon  their  acquisitions ;  but,  for  themselves,  they 
cannot  spare  the  time  nor  expense  necessary  to  make 
such  acquisitions ;  or  they  put  it  to  the  account  of 
their  humility,  and  bless  themselves  that  they  are 
not  ambitious.  In  most  of  all  these  cases,  however, 
either  the  love  of  the  world  or  genuine  laziness  lies 
at  the  bottom.  Had  they  more  energy  and  decision 
of  character,  and  did  they  redeem  the  precious  mo- 
ments, which  they  now  lose  in  laboriously  doing  noth- 
ing, or  nothing  to  the  purpose  of  the  church,  they 
might  open  all  the  treasures  of  the  east  and  the  west, 
and  have  them  at  their  disposal.  I  might  safely 
promise  a  good  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  to 


123  THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Necessity  of  reviewing. 

most  men  of  this  sort,  if  they  would  diligently  improve 
the  time  that  they  now  absolutely  throw  away,  in  the 
course  of  three  or  four  years.  While  one  man  is  de- 
liberating whether  he  had  better  study  a  language, 
another  man  has  obtained  it.  Such  is  the  difference 
between  decisive,  energetic  action,  and  a  timid,  hesita- 
ting, indolent  manner  of  pursuing  literary  acquisitions. 
And  what  is  worst  of  all,  in  this  temporizing  class  of 
students,  is,  that,  if  you  reason  with  them,  and  convince 
them  that  they  are  pursuing  a  wrong  course,  that  con- 
viction operates «no  longer  than  until  the  next  parox- 
ysm of  indolence,  or  of  a  worldly  spirit,  comes  on. 
These  siren  charmers  lull  every  energetic  power  of  the 
mind  to  sleep.  The  mistaken  man,  who  listens  to 
their  voice,  finds  himself,  at  the  age  of  forty,  just 
where  he  was  at  thirty.  At  fifty,  his  decline  has  al- 
ready begun.  At  sixty,  he  is  universally  regarded 
with  indifference,  which  he  usually  repays  with  mis- 
anthropy. And  if  he  has  the  misfortune  to  live  until 
he  is  seventy,  every  body  is  uneasy  because  he  is  not 
transferred  to  a  better  world."  * 

6.  Remember  that  the  great  secret  of  being  suc- 
cessful and  accurate  as  a  student,  next  to  perseverance, 

is,  THE  CONSTANT  HABIT  OF  REVIEWING. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  memory.  I  would 
here  say  a  word  as  to  its  use  in  your  definite  studies. 
Have  you  never  tried  to  banish  a  thought,  or  a  train  of 

•  Professor  Stuart. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  129 

How  to  commit  grammar  to  memory. 

thought,  from  your  memory,  and  could  not  ?  Have 
you  never  tried  to  recall  some  idea,  or  some  train  of 
thought,  and  the  more  you  tried,  the  more  you  seem- 
ed to  forget  it  ?  The  reason  is,  that  the  memory  loves 
freedom,  and  disdains  to  be  forced.  The  correct  path, 
then,  in  which  to  tread,  is  to  cultivate  the  memory  as 
much  as  possible,  without  weakening  it  by  restraint. 
It  loves  to  try  its  powers  spontaneously.  Little  chil- 
dren will  frequently  learn  a  long  list  of  Latin  or  Greek 
words,  without  designing  it,  merely  by  hearing  others 
repeat  them.  And  I  have  known  an  ignorant  Catho- 
lic, who  could  repeat  the  most  of  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
and  a  good  part  of  the  Missal,  all  in  Latin,  without 
knowing  what  it  meant,  simply  by  hearing  it  frequent- 
ly repeated.  Those  who  have  been  most  successful 
in  fixing  language  in  the  memory,  have  uniformly  done 
it  by  repeated  readings  of  the  thing  to  be  retained, 
In  committing  grammar,  for  example,  to  memory,  you 
should  not  attempt  to  confine  the  mind  to  it  too  long 
at  a  time,  but  bend  the  whole  attention  to  it  while  you 
do  study,  and  repeat  the  process  often :  repeat  the 
lesson  aloud,  that  it  may  come  to  the  mind  through 
the  ear,  as  well  as  through  the  eyes,  and  then  use  the 
pen,  and,  laying  aside  the  book,  write  it  all  Out.  In 
this  process,  you  use  the  eyes,  the  ears,  and  you  also 
give  the  mind  an  opportunity  to  dwell  upon  every 
letter,  and  syllable,  and  sound.  This  will  be  slow,  at 
first,  but  it  will  effectually  do  the  thing  j  it  will  maka 
9 


130  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  jeweller's  shop. 

you  thorough,  and  soon  give  the  courage  of  the  war- 
horse.  No  new  encounters  will,  in  the  least,  appal 
you.  The  great  difficulty  in  committing  grammar, 
consists  in  the  similarity  of  the  words  and  things  that 
are  brought  together.  Similarity  confuses  the  mind. 
If  you  were  to  go  into  a  jeweller's  shop,  and  see  a 
card  containing  twenty  watches,  though  each  had  a 
different  name,  yet,  the  next  day,  you  could  not  tell 
one  from  another.  But  suppose  you  go  for  five  days 
in  succession,  and  examine  four  watches  each  day. 
The  jeweller  carefully  points  out  the  difference.  This 
is  a  common  watch  :  he  shows  you  its  mechanism,  and 
all  its  parts.  That  is  a  patent  lever :  he  shows  you 
how  it  differs  from  the  former.  The  third  is  a  lepine : 
its  parts  are  very  different  still.  The  next  is  a  chro- 
nometer, and  differs  widely  from  any  you  have  yet 
seen.  He  telis  you  the  properties  of  each  one,  and 
compares  them  together.  The  second  day,  you  re- 
view and  recall  all  that  he  told  you,  and  you  fix  the 
name,  the  character,  and  the  properties  of  each  in  the 
memory.  You  then  proceed  to  the  second  four. 
You  go  through  the  same  process,  every  day  review- 
ing what  you  learned  on  the  preceding  day.  At  the 
end  of  five  days,  you  can  repeat  from  memory,  the 
name  and  powers  of  each  watch,  though,  before  the 
process,  all  you  could  remember  was,  that  their  num- 
ber was  twenty,  and  that  they  stood  in  five  different 
rows.  Now,  study  the  grammar  with  the  same  pre- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  131 

Wyttenbach's  testimony.  How  to  review. 

cision,  and  in  the  same  manner,  and  the  memory  will 
not  complain  that  she  is  confused,  and  cannot  retain 
what  you  ask  her  to  keep. 

But  what  I  have  said  of  reviewing,  pertains  more 
especially  to  the  lessons  which  you  prepare  for  the 
recitation-room,  and  which  are  to  be  reviewed  and  re- 
peated at  your  room.     The   indefatigable   Wytten- 
bach — and  few  could  speak  more  decidedly  from  ex- 
perience— says,  that  this  practice  will  have  "  an  in- 
credible effect  in  assisting  your  progress;"  but  he 
adds,  "  it  must  be  a  real  and  thorough  review  ;  that  is, 
it  must  be  again  and  again  repeated.     What  I  choose 
is  this  ;  that  every  day  the  task  of  the  preceding  day 
should  be  reviewed ;  at  the  end  of  every  week,  the 
task  of  the  week ;  at  the  end  of  every  month,  the 
studies  of  the  month ;  in  addition  to  which  this  whole 
course  should  be  gone  over  again  and  again  during 
the  vacation."     Again ;  this  great  scholar  tells  his  pu- 
pils, "  You  will  not  fail  to  devote  one  hour,  or  part  of 
an  hour,  at  least,  every  day,  to  these  studies,  on  the 
same  plan  which  you  have  followed  under  me ;  for 
there  is  no  business,  no  avocation  whatever,  which  will 
not  permit  a  man  who  has  an  INCLINATION,  to  give  a 
little  time  every  day  to  the  studies  of  his  youth."     I 
would  add,  that  one  quarter  of  an  hour,  every  day,  de- 
voted to  reviewing,  will  not  only  keep  all  that  a  man 
has  ever  gone  over,  fresh  in  mind,  but  advance  him  in 
classical  study.     And  no  man  may  hope  to  become  a 
thorough  scholar,  who  does  not  first  fix  this  habit  upon 


132  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

How  far  carried.  The  fog. 

himself.  It  will  be  irksome  at  first,  but  only  at  first. 
"  In  reading  and  studying  this  work,  [the  Memorabilia 
of  Xenophon,]  I  made  it  a  rule  never  to  begin  a  sec- 
tion without  re-perusing  the  preceding  one,  nor  a  chap- 
ter, nor  book,  without  going  over  the  preceding  chap- 
ter and  book  a  second  time  ;  and  finally,  after  having 
finished  the  work  in  that  manner,  I  again  read  the 
whole  in  course.  This  was  a  labor  of  almost  three 
months;  but  such  constant  repetition  proved  most 
beneficial  to  me.  The  effect  of  repetition  seemed 
to  be,  that  when  I  proceeded  from  a  section  or  a 
chapter  which  I  had  read  twice,  to  a  new  one,  I 
acquired  an  impulse  which  bore  me  along  through  all 
opposing  obstacles ;  like  a  vessel, — to  use  Cicero's  com- 
parison in  a  similar  case, — which,  having  once  received 
an  impulse  from  the  oar,  continues  her  course  even 
after  the  mariners  have  suspended  their  operations  to 
propel  her." 

How  very  different  this  from  the  practice  of  too 
many !  That  part  of  the  path  over  which  they  have 
passed,  is  covered  with  a  thick  fog,  and  they  can  look 
back  and  see  nothing  but  the  fog.  They  look  for- 
ward, and  the  atmosphere  is,  if  possible,  still  more  dim. 
The  road  seems  long,  and  they  are  constantly  in  doubt 
where  they  are.  Any  one  can  travel  in  a  fog,  but 
with  no  comfort  or  certainty  at  the  time,  and  with 
no  impression  upon  the  memory  to  recall  at  some 
future  time. 

•i  is  uoi  Tor  me  to  say  that  our  colleges  and  schools 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         133 

Necessity  illustrated.  Quintilian. 

should  insist  on  such  reviews  in  the  recitation-room. 
It  would  probably  be  impracticable ;  but  the  youth 
ought  to  be  encouraged  and  urged  to  do  it  at  his 
room,  again  and  again.  We  are  told  that  there  is  a 
fine,  and  a  more  than  human  emotion  produced  by 
reading  Demosthenes.  But  who  feels  it  ?  Read  over 
the  first  and  second  Olynthiac,  and  do  you  feel  it  ? 
No  ;  nor  can  you,  till  you  have  reviewed  every  sen- 
tence, and  paragraph,  and  section,  again  and  again,  and 
that,  probably,  to  the  twelfth  time.  Then,  if  you  are 
faithful,  you  will  begin  decidedly  to  feel  it.  You  can- 
not but  feel  it.  The  influence  of  Plato's  genius  is 
thought  to  be  distinctly  felt  through  the  whole  world 
of  letters.  Does  the  student  see  any  thing  of  this 
by  dipping  into  Plato?  No!  nor  can  he  ever 
do  so,  unless  he  train  himself  to  the  constant,  inva- 
riable habit  of  reviewing  every  sentence,  and  every 
page,  and  that,  too,  many  times.  Try  it  for  six  months, 
and  my  poor  reputation  shall  be  staked  on  the  result. 
Get,  by  any  labor,  your  author's  meaning  and  spirit. 
What  Quintilian  says  of  eloquence,  is  doubly  appli- 
cable to  this  point :  "  Prima  est  eloquentiae  virtus,  per- 
spicuitas  ;  et  quoquisque  ingenio  minus  valet,  hoc  se 
magis  attollere  et  dilatare  conatur :  ut  statura  breves 
in  digitos  eriguntur,  et  plura  infirmi  minantur." 

7.  Be  faithful  in  fulfilling  your  appointed  ex- 
etcises. 

It  has  been  said  of  the  promising  and  lamented 


134  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Appointed  exercises.  President  Porter's  testimony. 

Professor  Fisher,  that,  during  his  collegiate  course,  he 
never  missed  a  recitation  of  his  class,  and  was  never 
known  to  have  his  name  handed  in  by  the  monitors. 
And  all  those  men,  who  have  ever  become  influential 
among  us,  almost  without  exception,  began  to  be  dis- 
tinguished for  a  conscientious  discharge  of  all  appointed 
exercises,  while  obtaining  their  education.  You  may 
feel  unwell  to-day  ;  you  have  over-eaten,  or  abused  the 
body  in  some  other  way;  and  now  you  have  but  little 
courage  to  master  your  lesson.  You  are  tempted  not 
to  try  to  learn  it.  But  I  beg  of  you  not  to  lay  it  by. 
You  will  lose  in  self-respect ;  you  will  have  yielded  to 
a  temptation  that  will  often  assail  you ;  you  will  have 
lowered  yourself  in  the  estimation  of  others.  No  call 
of  friends,  no  preparation  for  a  society,  no  writing  to 
friends,  should  ever  turn  you  aside  from  getting  that 
lesson  which  is  shortly  to  be  recited.  The  strong 
language  of  the  late  venerable  President  Porter  ought 
to  be  hung  up  in  the  room  of  every  student.  It  is 
the  testimony  of  one  who  was  so  careful  and  so 
judicious  an  observer  of  men  and  things,  that  he  sel- 
dom made  mistakes.  "  Regular,  prescribed  exercises 
have  the  first  claim  on  your  time,  and  should  never  be 
thrust  aside  by  incidental  things.  It  should  be  a  point 
of  conscience  with  every  member  of  this  seminary, 
for  his  own  good,  as  well  as  in  conformity  with  his 
sacred  promise  at  matriculation,  never  to  neglect  these 
regular  exercises,  unless  disabled  by  Providence.  / 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  135 

Punctuality.  Rest  the  mind. 

was  detained  by  company,  is  sometimes  offered  as 
a  reason  for  such  neglect,  and  it  may  be  a  good  rea- 
son ;  very  rarely ;  but  in  my  own  case  as  a  student, 
from  twelve  years  of  age,  through  college,  it  never 
once  was  regarded  by  me  as  a  reason  for  such  neglect ; 
never  once  has  it  been  so,  in  the  nineteen  years  of  my 
connection  with  this  seminary.  Take  the  catalogue 
of  our  seminary  from  the  beginning,  and  mark  the 
men,  if  you  can,  on  that  honored  list,  who,  since  they 
have  left  us,  have  been  most  distinguished  for  useful- 
ness as  ministers  and  missionaries,  and  also  the  men, 
not  a  few,  who  have  been  elected  presidents  and  pro- 
fessors in  colleges  and  theological  seminaries,  and 
then  remember,  that  the  same  men  were  distinguished 
for  punctuality,  and  industry,  and  conscientious  regard 
to  order,  while  they  were  here." 

These  remarks  apply  with  as  much  force  to  every 
other  student  as  to  the  student  in  theology.  "Les 
homines  sont  a  peu  pres  tous  fails  de  la  meme 
maniere ;  et  ainsi  ce  qui  nous  a  louche,  les  touchera 
aussi." 

8.  Learn  to  rest  the  mind,  by  variety  in  your 
studies,  rather  than  by  entire  cessation  from  study. 

Few  can  confine  the  mind  down  to  severe  thought, 
or  to  one  study,  long  at  a  time,  and  therefore  most, 
when  they  relax,  throw  the  thoughts  loose,  and  do 
not  try  to  save  them.  You  are  studying  Homer, 
or  algebra,  for  example.  You  apply  yourself  some 


136  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

How  done.    ,  Illustrated. 

two  or  three  hours  at  a  time.  Your  body  becomes 
weary,  and  the  mind  is  jaded.  You  stop,  and  throw 
aside  your  books,  and  rest,  perhaps,  quite  as  long  as  you 
have  been  studying.  Now,  all  this  time  is  lost,  or  near- 
ly so.  You  forget  that  the  mind  is  as  much  refreshed 
by  variety  as  by  idleness.  When  you  lay  aside  your 
algebra,  take  up  your  Livy,  or  Tacitus,  and  you 
will  be  surprised  to  find  that  it  is  a  refreshment,  as 
you  review  your  last  lesson.  Or  make  those  minutes 
in  your  common-place  book  of  what  you  last  read  ; 
or  turn  your  thoughts,  and  ponder  over  the  subject  of 
your  next  composition.  You  may  save  a  vast  amount 
of  time  in  this  way. 

We  wonder  how  our  fathers,  and  how  the  students 
of  Germany,  at  the  present  time,  can  study  sixteen 
hours  a  day.  They  never  could  do  it,  were  it  not 
that  they  pursue  one  study  till  the  mind  reluctates  ; 
they  then  turn  to  another,  by  which  the  mind  is  re- 
lieved, and  at  once  becomes  buoyant.  This  is  the 
difference  between  him  who  loses  no  time,  and  him 
who  loses  very  much.  The  men  who  accomplish 
so  much  in  life,  are  those  who  practise  on  this  plan. 
This  will  account  for  the  fact,  that  the  same  man  will 
not  unfrequently  hold  several  offices  which  require 
talents  and  efforts  seemingly  incompatible  with  each 
other,  and  yet  promptly  execute  the  duties  of  all. 
He  is  thus  continually  busy  and  continually  resting. 

In  this  way  the  justly  distinguished  Dr.  Good,  long 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  137 

Example  of  Dr.  Good.  The  old  adage  untrue. 

before  he  was  forty  years  old,  arnid  the  incessant  and 
anxious  duties  of  a  laborious  profession,  had  gained 
prizes  by  writing  essays ;  had  mastered  at  least  eleven 
different  languages ;  had  aided  in  making  a  Univer- 
sal Dictionary  in  twelve  volumes  ;  had  written  his 
celebrated  Study  of  Medicine  ;  and  was  constantly 
writing  and  translating  poetry.  His  "  Book  of 
Nature  "  will  give  the  reader  an  admiring  conception 
of  the  variety  and  the  accuracy  of  his  attainments. 
Instead  of  being  thrown  into  confusion  by  such  a  vari- 
ety and  pressure  of  occupations,  he  carried  them  all 
forward  simultaneously,  and  suffered  none  to  be  neg- 
lected, or  but  half  executed.  His  practice  was  like 
that  of  the  indefatigable,  but  somewhat  eccentric  Dr. 
Clarke,  who  said,  "  I  have  lived  to  know  the  great 
secret  of  human  happiness  is  this, — never  suffer  your 
energies  to  stagnate.  The  old  adage  of  '  too  many 
irons  in  the  fire,'  conveys  an  abominable  lie.  You 
cannot  have  too  many ;  poker,  tongs,  and  all — 
keep  them  all  going."  This  habit  of  keeping  the 
mind  employed,  will  soon  destroy  the  common  habit 
of  reverie.  The  soul  will  be  too  busy  for  reverie ; 
and  then,  if  she  gains  nothing  by  change  of  occupa- 
tions, by  way  of  acquisition,  she  gains  the  satisfaction 
that  she  is  not  wandering  off  on  forbidden  ground. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

READING. 

THE  genius  of  Shakspeare  has  shed  a  glory  around 
the  name  of  Brutus,  \vhich  the  iron  pen  of  history 
cannot  do  away.  The  historian  and  the  poet  are  cer- 
tainly greatly  at  variance  in  regard  to  him :  the  latter 
has  made  him  so  amiable  and  exalted  a  character, 
that  we  feel  unwilling  to  know  the  truth  about  him. 
I  am  not  now  to  act  as  umpire  between  them  ;  but 
there  is  one  spot  where  we  see  him  in  the  same  light, 
both  in  history  and  in  poetry.  It  is  this.  The  night 
before  the  celebrated  battle  of  Pharsalia,  which  was 
to  decide  the  fate  of  the  known  world,  Brutus  was  in 
his  tent  reading,  and  making  notes  from  his  author 
with  the  pen ! 

The  elder  Pliny  seldom  sat  down  to  eat  a  meal, 
without  having  some  one  read  to  him ;  and  he  never 
travelled  without  having  one  or  more  books  with  him, 
and  conveniences  for  making  extracts  or  memoranda. 

The  amiable  Petrarch  never  felt  happy  a  day,  if, 
during  it,  he  did  not  read  or  write,  or  do  both.  One 
of  his  friends,  fearing  it  would  injure  his  health, 
begged  him  to  lend  him  the  key  of  his  library.  Pe- 
trarch, without  knowing  the  design,  granted  it.  His 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  139 

Anecdote  of  Petrarch.  Bacon's  aphorism. 

friend  locked  it  up,  and  forbade  him  to  read  any  thing 
for  ten  days.  The  poet  consented  with  great  reluc- 
tance. The  first  day  seemed  longer  than  a  year ;  the 
second  produced  a  hard  headache  from  morning  till 
night;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  he  was 
evidently  in  a  fever.  His  friend,  touched  with  his 
situation,  restored  the  key,  and  with  it  his  health  and 
spirits. 

All  distinguished  men  have  been  given  to  the  habit 
of  constant  reading ;  and  it  is  utterly  impossible  to 
arrive  at  any  tolerable  degree  of  distinction  without 
this  habit.  "Reading,"  says  Bacon,  "  makes  a  full 
man  ;  conversation  a  ready  man ;  writing  an  exact 
man."  That  which  he  means  by  full  can  never  be 
attained,  except  by  an  extensive  and  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  books.  No  genius,  no  power  of  in- 
venting and  creating  thoughts,  can  ever  supply  a  de- 
6ciency  in  this  respect.  The  mightiest  mind  that  was 
ever  created,  could,  perhaps,  here  and  there,  strike  out 
a  road  ;  but  who  would  wish  it  to  spend  itself  in  beating 
about  to  discover  a  path,  and  even  to  make  it,  when 
the  united  minds  of  the  generations  who  have  gone 
before  us,  have  done  this  for  him  ?  In  order  to  have 
a  judgment  sound  and  correct,  you  must  travel 
through  the  history  cf  other  times,  and  be  able  to 
compare  the  present  with  the  past.  To  have  the 
mind  vigorous,  you  must  refresh  it,  and  strengthen  it, 
by  a  continued  contact  with  the  mighty  dead  who 


140  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Necessity  of  reading.         Remark  of  Pres.  Porter.          Queen  Caroline. 

have  gone  away,  but  left  their  imperishable  thoughts 
behind  them.  We  want  to  have  the  mind  continually 
expanding,  and  creating  new  thoughts,  or  at  least  feed- 
ing itself  upon  manly  thoughts.  The  food  is  to 
the  blood,  which  circulates  through  your  veins,  what 
reading  is  to  the  mind ;  and  the  mind  that  does  not 
love  to  read,  may  despair  of  ever  doing  much  in  the 
world  of  mind  which  it  would  affect.  You  can  no 
more  be  the  "  full  man "  whom  Bacon  describes, 
without  reading,  than  you  can  be  vigorous  and  healthy 
without  any  new  nourishment.  It  would  be  no  more 
reasonable  to  suppose  it,  in  the  expressive  and  beau- 
tiful language  of.  Porter,  "  than  to  suppose  that  the 
Mississippi  might  roll  on  its  flood  of  waters  to  the 
ocean,  though  all  its  tributary  streams  were  cut  off, 
and  it  were  replenished  only  by  the  occasional  drops 
from  the  clouds."  Some  will  read  works  of  the 
imagination,  or  what  is  called  the  light  literature  of 
the  day,  while  that  which  embraces  solid  thought  is 
irksome.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester  (Hoadley) 
said  that  he  could  never  look  into  Butler's  Analogy 
without  having  his  head  ache — a  book  which  Queen 
Caroline  told  Mr.  Sale,  she  read  every  day  at  break- 
fast. Young  people  are  apt — and  to  this  students 
are  continually  tempted — to  read  only  for  amuse- 
ment. Pope  says,  that,  from  fourteen  to  twenty,  he 
read  for  amusement  alone ;  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
seven,  for  improvement  and  instruction ;  that  in  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  141 

Object  of  reading.  How  to  read  to  advantage. 

former  period,  he  wanted  only  to  know,  and  in  the 
second,  endeavored  to  judge. 

The  object  of  reading  may  be  divided  into  several 
branches.  The  student  reads  for  relaxation  from 
more  severe  studies ;  he  is  thus  refreshed,  and  his 
spirits  are  revived.  He  reads  for  facts  in  the  history 
and  experience  of  his  species,  as  they  lived  and  acted 
under  different  circumstances.  From  these  facts  he 
draws  conclusions ;  his  views  are  enlarged,  his  judg- 
ment corrected,  and  the  experience  of  former  ages, 
and  of  all  times,  becomes  his  own.  He  reads,  chiefly, 
probably,  for  information ;  to  store  up  knowledge  for 
future  use ;  and  he  wishes  to  classify  and  arrange  it, 
that  it  may  be  ready  at  his  call.  He  reads  for  the 
sake  of  style, — to  learn  how  a  strong,  nervous,  or 
beautiful  writer  expresses  himself.  The  spirit  of  a 
writer  to  whom  the  world  has  bowed  in  homage,  and 
the  dress  in  which  the  spirit  stands  arrayed,  is  the 
object  at  which  he  must  anxiously  look. 

It  is  obvious,  then,  that,  in  attaining  any  of  these 
ends,  except,  perhaps,  that  of  amusement,  reading 
should  be  performed  very  slowly  and  deliberately. 
You  will  usually,  and,  indeed,  almost  invariably,  find 
that  those  who  read  a  great  multitude  of  books, 
have  but  little  knowledge  that  is  of  any  value.  A 
large  library  has  justly  been  denominated  a  learned 
luxury — not  elegance — much  less  utility.  A  cele- 
brated French  author  was  laughed  at  on  account  of 


142  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Must  be  deliberate.  Seneca's  remark. 

the  poverty  of  his  library.  "Ah,"  replied  he,  "when 
I  want  a  book,  I  make  it ! "  Rapid  readers  generally 
are  very  desultory ;  and  a  man  may  read  much,  and 
know  but  very  little.  "  The  hettuo  librorum  and  the 
true  scholar  are  two  very  different  characters."  One 
who  has  a  deep  insight  into  the  nature  of  man,  says 
that  he  never  felt  afraid  to  meet  a  man  who  has  a 
large  library.  It  is  the  man  who  has  but  few  books, 
and  who  thinks  much,  whose  rnind  is  the  best  fur- 
nished for  intellectual  operations.  It  will  not  be  pre- 
tended, however,  that  there  are  not  many  exceptions 
to  this  remark.  But,  with  a  student,  in  the  morning 
of  life,  there  are  no  exceptions.  If  he  would  im- 
prove by  his  reading,  it  must  be  very  deliberate. 
Can  a  stomach  receive  any  amount  or  kind  of  food, 
hastily  thrown  into  it,  and  reduce  it,  and  from  it  ex- 
tract nourishment  for  the  body  ?  Not  for  any  length 
of  time.  Neither  can  the  mind  any  easier  digest  that 
which  is  rapidly  brought  before  it.  Seneca  has  the 
same  idea  in  his  own  simple,  beautiful  language — 
"  Distraint  animum  librorum  multitudo : — Fastidientis 
stornachi  rnulta  degustare,  quse  ubi  varia  sunt  et  di- 
versa,  inquinant,  non  alunt." 

It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  ancients  had  not 
a  great  compensation  for  the  fewness  of  their  books, 
in  the  thoroughness  with  which  they  were  compelled 
to  study  them.  A  book  must  all  be  copied  with  the 
pen,  to  be  owned :  and  he  who  transcribed  a  book  for 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  143 

Ancients  had  but  few  books.  Scarcity  of  books  formerly. 

the  sake  of  owning  it,  would  be  likely  to  understand 
it.  Before  the  art  of  printing,  books  were  so  scarce, 
that  ambassadors  were  sent  from  France  to  Rome,  to 
beg  a  copy  of  Cicero  de  Oratore,  and  Quintilian's  In- 
stitutes. &c.,  because  a  complete  copy  of  these  works 
was  not  to  be  found  in  all  France.  Albert,  abbot  of 
Gemblours,  with  incredible  labor  and  expense,  col- 
lected a  library  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  volumes,  in- 
cluding every  thing ;  and  this  was  considered  a  won- 
der indeed.  In  1494,  the  library  of  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  contained  parts  of  seventeen  books  on  va- 
rious subjects  ;  and,  on  his  borrowing  a  Bible  from  the 
convent  of  St.  Svvithin,  he  had  to  give  a  heavy  bond, 
drawn  up  with  great  solemnity,  that  he  would  return 
it  uninjured.  If  any  one  gave  a  book  to  a  convent  or 
a  monastery,  it  conferred  everlasting  salvation  upon 
him,  and  he  offered  it  upon  the  altar  of  God.  The 
convent  of  Rochester  every  year  pronounced  an  ir- 
revocable sentence  of  damnation  on  him  who  should 
dare  steal  or  conceal  a  Latin  translation  of  Aristotle, 
or  even  obliterate  a  title.  When  a  book  was  pur- 
chased, it  was  an  affair  of  such  consequence,  that  per- 
sons of  distinction  were  called  together  as  witnesses. 
Previous  to  the  year  1300,  the  library  of  Oxford, 
England,  consisted  only  of  a  few  tracts,  which  were 
carefully  locked  up  in  a  small  chest,  or  else  chained, 
lest  they  should  escape ;  and  at  the  commencement 
of  the  14th  century,  the  royal  library  of  France  con- 


144  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Obstacles  in  the  way  of  knowledge  formerly.     Excellence  of  the  ancients. 

tained  only  four  classics,  with  a  few  devotional  works. 
So  great  was  the  privilege  of  owning  a  book,  that  one 
of  their  books  on  natural  history  contained  a  picture, 
representing  the  Deity  as  resting  on  the  Sabbath,  with 
a  book  in  his  hand,  in  the  act  of  reading  !  It  was 
probably  no  better  in  earlier  times.  Knowledge  was 
scattered  to  the  four  winds,  and  truth  was  hidden  in  a 
well.  Lycurgus  and  Pythagoras  were  obliged  to 
travel  into  Egypt,  Persia,  and  India,  in  order  to  un- 
derstand the  doctrine  of  the  metempsychosis.  Solon 
and  Plato  had  to  go  to  Egypt  for  what  they  knew. 
Herodotus  and  Strabo  were  obliged  to  travel  to  col- 
lect their  history,  and  to  construct  their  geography  as 
they  travelled.  Few  men  pretended  to  own  a  libra- 
ry, and  he  was  accounted  truly  favored  who  owned 
half  a  dozen  volumes.  And  yet,  with  all  this  scarcity 
of  books,  there  were  in  those  days  scholars  who 
greatly  surpassed  us.  We  cannot  write  poetry  like 
Homer,  nor  history  like  Thucydides.  We  have  not 
the  pen  which  Aristotle  and  Plato  held,  nor  the  elo- 
quence with  which  Demosthenes  thrilled.  They  sur- 
passed us  in  painting  and  in  sculpture.  Their  books 
were  but  few.  But  those  were  read,  as  Juvenal 
says,  ten  times — "  decies  repetita  placebunt."  Their 
own  resources  were  tasked  to  the  utmost,  and  he  who 
could  not  draw  from  his  own  fountain,  in  vain  sought 
for  neighbors,  from  whose  wells  he  could  borrow. 
How  very  different  with  us!  We  read  without 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  145 

We  read  much.  Cautions.  Bad  books. 

measure,  and  almost  without  profit.  "  Aliud  enim  est 
scire,  aliud  sapere.  Sapiens  est,  qui  didicit  non  om- 
nia,  sed  ea  quae  ad  veram  felicitatem  pertinent,  et 
iis  quae  didicit  afficitur  ac  transfiguratus  est." 

If,  at  the  close  of  any  given  year,  you  will  examine 
the  register  of  the  librarian  of  any  of  the  literary  so- 
cieties in  college,  you  will  find,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, that  those  who  have  taken  out  most  books,  have 
accomplished  least  in  preparing  the  mind  for  future 
usefulness.  It  is  a  good  maxim,  in  regard  to  your 
reading — Non  multa,  sed  multum. 

Beware  of  bad  books.  Some  men  have  been  per- 
mitted to  live  and  employ  their  powers  in  writing  what 
will  continue  to  pollute  and  destroy  for  generations 
after  they  are  gone.  The  world  is  flooded  with  such 
books.  They  are  permitted  to  lie  in  our  pathway  as 
a  part  of  our  moral  discipline.  Under  the  moral  gov- 
ernment of  God,  while  in  this  state  of  probation,  we 
are  to  be  surrounded  with  temptations  of  every  kind. 
And  never  does  the  spirit  of  darkness  rejoice  more, 
than  when  a  gifted  mind  can  prostitute  itself,  not 
merely  to  revel  in  sin  itself,  but  to  adorn  and  conceal 
a  path  which  is  full  of  holes,  through  which  you  may 
drop  into  the  chambers  of  death.  Books  could  be 
named,  were  it  not  that  there  is  a  possibility  that  even 
the  information  conveyed  in  naming  them  might  be 
perverted  and  used  to  obtain  them,  which,  seemingly, 
could  not  be  excelled  by  all  the  talents  in  hell,  if  the 
10 


146  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Their  certain  ruin.  Guilt  of  selling  such  books. 

object  were  to  pollute  and  to  ruin.  These  are  to  be 
found  every  where.  I  do  entreat  my  young  readers 
never  to  look  at  one — never  to  open  one.  They  will 
leave  a  stain  upon  the  soul  which  can  never  be  re- 
moved. I  have  known  these  books  secreted  in  the 
rooms  of  students,  and  lent  from  one  to  another. 
They  are  to  be  found  too  frequently.  And  if  you 
have  an  enemy,  whose  soul  you  would  visit  with  a 
heavy  vengeance,  and  into  whose  heart  you  would 
place  vipers  which  will  live,  and  crawl,  and  torment 
him  through  life,  and  whose  damnation  you  would 
seal  up  for  the  eternal  world,  you  have  only  to  place 
one  of  these  destroyers  in  his  hand.  You  have  cer- 
tainly paved  the  way  to  the  abodes  of  death ;  and  if 
he  does  not  travel  it  with  hasty  strides,  you  have,  at 
least,  laid  up  food  for  many  days  of  remorse. 

What  shall  be  said  of  those  who  print  and  sell  such 
works  to  the  young? — of  those  who  go  out  on  purpose 
to  peddle  them  ?  They  are  the  most  awful  scourges 
with  which  a  righteous  God  ever  visited  our  world. 
The  angel  of  death  can  sheath  his  sword,  and  stay  his 
hand  in  the  work  of  death.  But  these  wretches! 
they  dig  graves  so  deep  that  they  reach  into  hell. 
They  blight  the  hopes  of  parents,  and  pour  more  than 
seven  vials  of  wo  upon  the  family  whose  affections 
are  bound  up  in  the  son  who  is  thus  destroyed. 

In  connection  with  these  books,  allow  me  to  lift  up 
a  loud  voice  against  those  rovings  of  the  imagination, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         147 

Abuse  of  imagination.        A  delicate  subject.        Onanis  scelus. 

by  which  the  mind  is  at  once  enfeebled,  and  the  heart 
and  feelings  debased  and  polluted.  It  is  almost  insep- 
arable from  the  habit  of  reverie :  but,  in  this  life,  a 
heavier  curse  can  hardly  hang  upon  a  young  man  than 
that  of  possessing  a  polluted  imagination.  The  lepro- 
sy fills  the  whole  soul.  Time  only  increases  it,  and 
even  the  power  of  the  gospel  can  seldom  do  more 
than  restrain,  without  subduing,  when  the  disease  is 
once  fixed. 

While  I  thus  briefly  allude  to  these  wanderings  of  the 
imagination,  by  which  the  mind  is  debilitated,  the  soul 
polluted  by  a  stain  which  tears  cannot  wash  out,  nor  the 
deepest  repentance  fully  do  away,  I  cannot  satisfy  my 
conscience  without  going  a  step  further,  and  saying 
what  others  have,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  wished  to 
say,  and  ought  to  say,  but  which  no  one  has  yet  had  the 
courage  to  say,  in  tones  loud  and  distinct.  May  I 
entreat  the  young  man  who  reads  these  pages  not  to 
pass  the  following  paragraph  without  reading  and  pon- 
dering it.  I  have  chosen  to  risk  the  charge  of  pedantry 
rather  than  not  say  what  I  could  not  say  in  English. 

Lux  nulla,  ilia  Dice  ultima,  exceptd,  ut  frequenter  et 
assidue,  consuetudinem  *  *  *  effundendi  rnanu  [ONANIS 
SCELUS,]  revelarepossit.  Adolescentulos  quamplurimos 
novi,  in  singulatos  dies,  in  hae  re,  seipsos  turpantes,  et 
hoc,  per  annos  multos.  Incitamentum  ad  hoc  crimen, 
cum  pene  omnibus,  permagnum  est.  Casum  multorum 
quos,  de  causa  execrabile  sold,  vidi  occumbere  prema- 


148  THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Crimen  commune.  Ethnic!.  Dei  ira. 

tur(R  morti,  gemui, — aliquos  in  aulis  academicis,  et 
nonnullos  citissime  post  digressum  e  collegia  et  ex 
aliquovis  gradu  exornatos.  Plurimi  hanc  consuetudi- 
nem  defendere  conati  sunt,  quasi  instinctu  quodam  et 
imperio  impulsi,  et  sic  voluerunt  Deum  ipsum  esse  hu- 
jus  stupri  auctorem.  "  Hoc  pratexit  nomine  culpam." 
Turpissima  simulatio !  Ethnici  ipsi,  luce  natura 
ducti,  cum  verbis  multis  hanc  culpam  rcprobaverunt. 
v.  c.  "  Veneri  servit — manus  !  Hoc  nihil  esse  pit- 
tas'! scelus  est,  mihi  crede;  sed  ingens,  quantum  vix 
animo  concipis  ipse  tuo; — parce  solicitare  manu. 
Lavibus  in  pueris  plus  quam  hcec — peccat." 

Deus,  quoad  hoc  crimen,  mentem  cjus  lucidissime 
indicavit.  *  Indignatio  et  ira  Dei  illis  adsequentur. 
"  Scimus  vero  judicium  Dei  esse  secundum  veritatem 
adversus  cos  qui  talia  agunt.  Pittas  autem  hoc,  O 
quifacis  ea,fore  ut  tu  effugias  judicium  Dei?" 

Memento  fructus  hujus  consuetudinis  esse. — 

(1.)  Memoriam  esse  maxime  debilitatam; 

(2.)  Mentem  esse  valde  dejectam  atque  stulte  im- 
bccilem ;  f 

*  Gen.  38 :  9, 10.  1  Cor.  6:9.  2  Cor.  12 : 21 .  Gal.  5 : 19. 
Eph.  5 :  3,  5. 

t  See  a  thrilling  and  harrowing  chapter  in  Rush  on  Diseases 
of  the  Mind.  Physicians  testify,  that  probably  this  is  a  greater 
source  of  derangement  than  all  other  causes.  The  very  in- 
telligent and  respectable  Superintendents  of  the  Insane  Hospitals 
at  Worcester  and  at  Hartford  will  say,  not  only  that  this  is  the 
cause  of  bringing  many  of  their  patients  there,  but  an  almost  ii>- 
superable  obstacle  in  the  way  of  their  recovery. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  149 

Fructus.  Byron. 

(3.)  Semina  letiferi  morbi,  et  mortis  ipsce  in  cor- 
pore  sparsa ;  * 

(4.)  Omnia  qua  ad  animam  pertinent  ruere  in 
pcjus ; 

(5.)  Tribulationem  a  Deo,  qui  te  aspicit  in  occulto, 
certissime  -venturam  fuisse.  Oculus  ejus,  semper  vigi- 
lans,  te  spcctat.  "  Nam  omne  opus  Deus  Ipse  ad- 
ducet  in  judicium  cum  omni  re  occnlta."  "  Nam 
qua,  fiunt  ab  istis,  turpe  est  vel  dicere."  Fuge, 
fuge,  pro  vita,  pro  anima.  "  Obsta  principiis." 
Hoc  scelus  vinsere  non  poteris,  nisi  effugiendo. 
Quicunque  in  timore  Dei  versatur,  te  docebit,  "  hie 
vice  ad  sepulchrum"  hie  vice  desccndentes  ad  pene- 
tralia mortis. 

What  shall  be  said  of  such  works  as  those  of  Byron? 
May  not  a  young  man  read  those  ?  Can  he  not  learn 
things  from  him  which  cannot  be  learned  elsewhere  ? 
I  reply,  Yes,  just  as  you  would  learn,  while  treading 
in  burning  lava,  what  could  not  be  learned  elsewhere. 

*  It  is  awfully  certain,  too,  that  it  is  very  frequently  the  cause 
of  sudden  death.  The  apoplexy  waits  hard  by,  as  God's  execu- 
tioner, upon  this  sin.  May  not  the  pale-faced  youth,  in  feeble 
health,  frequently  imputing  his  disease  to  the  dyspepsia,  or 
something  like  it,  tremble  as  he  looks  off  the  abyss  on  which  he 
has  placed  himself?  I  do  hope  what  I  have  said  will  lead  many 
to  fear  and  to  beware.  These  remarks  may  be  condemned  by 
some ;  but  I  shall  have  two  sources  of  consolation, — first,  that  1 
have  discharged  a  sacred  duty ;  and,  secondly,  that  those  who  are 
offended  are  those  for  whose  special  benefit  these  remarks  are 
made. 


150  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Danger  of  such  writers.  They  cannot  live  long. 

But  would  the  knowledge  thus  obtained  be  worth  the 
agony  of  the  fire,  and  the  scars  which  would  remain 
through  life?  It  is  breathing  the  air  which  comes  up 
from  a  heated  furnace ;  and  though  you  may  see  a 
brightness  and  a  glow  in  that  furnace,  as  you  gaze  into 
it,  which  is  no  where  else  to  be  found,  yet  you  will 
feel  the  effects  of  what  you  breathe  a  long  time. 
There  are  many  bright  spots  in  such  writings;  but 
while  one  ray  of  pure  light  is  thrown  upon  the  soul,  it 
must  find  its  way  through  volumes  of  Egyptian  dark- 
ness. There  are  beautiful  pearls  in  the  slimy  bottom 
of  the  ocean,  but  they  are  found  only  here  and  there ; 
and  would  you  feel  it  worth  your  while  to  dive  after 
them,  if  there  were  many  probabilities  that  you  would 
stick  and  die  in  the  mud  in  which  they  are  imbedded, 
or,  if  not,  that  you  certainly  shorten  and  embitter  life, 
in  the  process  of  diving  and  obtaining  them  ? 

Would  you  thank  a  man  for  fitting  up  your  study, 
and  adorning  it  with  much  that  is  beautiful,  if,  at  the 
same  time,  he  filled  it  with  images  and  ghosts  of  the 
most  disgusting  and  awful  description,  which  were  to 
abide  there,  and  be  continually  dancing  around  you 
all  your  life  ?  Is  he  a  benefactor  to  his  species,  who, 
here  and  there,  throws  out  a  beautiful  thought,  or  a 
poetic  image,  but,  as  you  stoop  to  pick  it  up,  chains 
upon  you  a  putrid  carcass  which  you  can  never  throw 
off?  I  believe  a  single  page  may  be  selected  from 
Byron,  which  has  done  more  hurt  to  the  mind  and 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  151 

Moore.        Scott.        Hume.        Paine.        Bulwer.        Cooper. 

the  heart  of  the  young  than  all  his  writings  have  ever 
done  good.    But  he  will  quickly  pass  from  notice,  and 
is  doomed  to  be  exiled  from  the  libraries  of  all  virtu- 
ous men.    It  is  a  blessing  to  the  world,  that  what  is  pu- 
trid must  soon  pass  away.    The  carcass  hung  in  chains 
will  be  gazed  at  for  a  short  time  in  horror ;  but  men 
will  soon  turn  their  eyes  away,  and  remove  even  the 
gallows  on  which  they  swung.    "But,"  say  you, "  has 
my  author  ever  read  Byron  and  Moore,  Hume  and 
Paine,  Scott,  Bulwer  and  Cooper? "     Yes,  he  has  read 
them  all,  and  with  too  much  care.     He  knows  every 
rock  and  every  quicksand  ;  and  he  solemnly  declares 
to  you,  that  the  only  good  which  he  is  conscious  of 
ever  having  received  from  them  is,  a  deep  impression 
that  men  who  possess  talents  of  such  compass  and 
power,  and  so  perverted  in  their  application,  must 
meet  the  day  of  judgment  under  a  responsibility  which 
would  be  cheaply  removed  by  the  price  of  a  world. 
Those  who  wrote  to  undermine  or  to  crush  the  belief 
of  the  Christian — those  who  wrote  to  show  how  they 
could  revel  in  passion,  and  pour  out  their  living  scorn 
upon  their  species — and  those  who  wasted  life  and  gi- 
gantic powers  merely  to  amuse  men — have  come  far 
short  of  answering  the  great  end  of  existence  on  earth. 
Talents  and  influence  were  given  for  purposes  widely 
different.     But  is  it  not  necessary  to  read  works  of 
this  kind,  especially  those  whose  design  is  only  to 
amuse  and  awaken  the  interest  of  the  reader  ?     There 


152         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Effects  of  such  writings.          Chalmers.          Edmund  Burke. 

is  no  more  necessity  than  there  is  to  be  acquainted 
with  all  the  variety  of  dishes  with  which  the  palate 
may  be  pleased,  and  the  body  stimulated,  and  the 
stomach  weakened.  Were  these  the  only  books  in  the 
world,  the  case  would  be  different.  But  who  does  not 
know  that  they  who  are  given  to  reading  works  of  fic- 
tion, leave  a  mass  of  most  valuable  and  solid  reading 
untouched  and  unknown  ?  When  you  have  read  and 
digested  all  that  is  really  valuable,  and  which  is  com- 
prised in  what  describes  the  history  of  man  in  all 
lights  in  which  he  has  actually  been  placed,  then  be- 
take yourself  to  works  of  imagination.  But  can  you 
not,  in  works  of  fiction,  have  the  powers  of  the  imagi- 
nation enlarged,  and  the  mind  taught  to  soar  ?  Per- 
haps so.  But  the  lectures'of  Chalmers  on  Astronomy 
will  do  this  to  a  degree  far  beyond  all  that  the  peri  of 
fiction  can  do.  Will  they  not  give  you  a  command 
of  words  and  of  language  which  shall  be  full,  and 
chaste,  and  strong  ?  Perhaps  so.  But  if  that  is  what 
you  wish,  read  the  works  of  Edmund  Burke.  There 
you  will  find  language,  gorgeous  at  times,  but,  for  cc« 
piousness  and  wealth,  hardly  to  be  equalled  by  any 
uninspired  pen.  He  is  a  master  on  this  subject ;  and 
I  hope  no  one,  who  intends  to  strike  for  a  character 
for  language  or  thoughts,  strength  or  beauty,  will 
ever  be  trying  to  clothe  himself  with  the  puissance  of 
a  novel,  when  he  can  boast  the  language  of  Burke  as 
being  his  mother  tongue. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  153 

Testimony  against  novels.  How  know  what  to  read. 

The  question  in  regard  to  works  of  fiction  usually- 
has  a  definite  relation  to  the  writings  of  Walter  Scott. 
There  is  such  a  magic  thrown  around  him,  that  it 
cannot  be  but  we  are  safe  there.  Is  it  so  ?  Because 
the  magician  can  raise  mightier  spirits  than  other  ma- 
gicians, and  throw  more  of  supernatural  light  about 
him  than  others,  is  he  therefore  the  less  to  be  feared  ? 
No  ;  the  very  strength  of  the  spell  should  warn  you 
that  there  is  danger  in  putting  yourself  in  his  power. 
While  I  have  confessed  that  1  have  read  him — read 
him  entire — in  order  to  show  that  1  speak  from  expe- 
rience, 1  cannot  but  say,  that  it  would  give  me  the 
keenest  pain  to  believe  that  my  example  would  be 
quoted,  small  as  is  its  influence,  after  I  am  in  the 
grave,  without  this  solemn  protest  accompanying  it. 

How  shall  you  know  what  to  read  ? — a  very  im- 
portant question  ;  for  some  books  will  positively  injure, 
if  they  do  not  destroy  you.  Others  will  have  no 
positive  good  effect;  and  from  all,  a  tincture,  like  that 
left  upon  the  mind  by  the  company  you  keep,  will  be 
left.  Do  not  expect  to  read  all,  or  even  a  small  part 
of  what  comes  out,  and  is  recommended,  too,  in  this 
age  of  books.  You  take  up  a  book,  and  read  a  chap- 
ter. How  shall  you  know  whether  it  is  worth  your 
reading,  without  reading  it  through  ?  In  the  same 
way  that  you  would  know  whether  a  cask  of  wine  was 
good.  If  you  draw  one  glass,  or  two,  and  find  them 
stale  and  unpleasant,  do  you  need  to  drink  off  the 


154         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Standard  authors.  Read  no  poor  books. 

'Whole  cask,  to  decide  that  you  do  not  want  it  ?  "I 
have  somewhat  else  to  do,  in  the  short  day  allotted  me, 
than  to  read  whatever  any  one  may  think  it  his  duty 
to  write.  When  I  read,  I  wish  to  read  to  good  pur- 
pose ;  and  there  are  some  books,  which  contradict,  on 
the  very  face  of  them,  what  appear  to  me  to  be  first 
principles.  You  surely  will  not  say,  '  I  am  bound  to 
read  such  books.'  If  a  man  tells  me  he  has  a  very 
elaborate  argument  to  prove  that  two  and  two  make 
five,  I  have  something  else  to  do  than  to  attend  to  his 
argument.  If  I  find  the  first  mouthful  of  meat  which 
I  take  from  a  fine-looking  joint  on  my  table  is  tainted, 
I  need  not  eat  through  it  to'  be  convinced  I  ought 
to  send  it  away."  But  there  is  a  shorter  route,  and 
one  every  way  still  more  safe ;  and  that  is,  to  treat 
books  as  you  do  medicines ;  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them  till  others  have  tried  them,  and  can  testify  to 
their  worth.  There  are  always  what  are  denomi- 
nated standard  works  at  hand,  and  about  which  there 
can  be  neither  doubt  nor  mistake.  You  cannot 
read  every  thing;  and  if  you  could,  you  would 
be  none  the  wiser.  The  lumber  would,  bury  up  and 
destroy  all  the  valuable  materials  which  you  were 
laying  up.  Never  feel  any  obligation  to  read  a  trifling 
author,  or  one  whose  thoughts  are  spread  out  like 
gold-leaf  over  a  wide  surface,  quite  through,  in  hopes 
of  finding  something  better  as  you  proceed.  You 
will  be  disappointed.  An  author  may  reserve  some 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         155 

How  begin  to  read  an  author. 

of  his  happiest  thoughts  for  the  close  of  his  book ; 
but  he  has  great  poverty  of  intellect  if  he  makes  you 
travel  over  a  long,  sandy  road,  without  any  spots  that 
are  refreshing.  Leave  such  books — you  will  find 
better;  and  you  are  not  bound  to  spend  time  and 
strength  on  a  mere  possibility.  Will  you  stand  till 
wearied,  to  hear  a  dull,  impertinent  coxcomb  talk, 
when,  by  turning  away,  you  can  find  instructive  com- 
pany ? 

Hoiv  shall  you  begin  to  read  a  Itookl  Always 
look  into  your  dish  and  taste  it,  before  you  begin  to 
eat.  As  you  sit  down,  examine  the  title-page;  see 
who  wrote  the  book — where  he  lives  ;  do  you  know 
any  thing  of  the  author  ?  where,  and  by  whom  pub- 
lished ?  Do  you  knpw  any  thing  of  the  general  char- 
acter of  the  books  published  by  this  publisher  ?  Rec- 
ollect what  you  have  heard  about  this  book.  Then 
read  the  preface,  to  see  what  kind  of  a  bow  the  author 
makes,  and  what  he  thinks  of^himself  and  his  work  ; 
why  he  has  the  boldness  to  challenge  the  public  to 
hear  him.  Then  turn  to  the  contents,  see  what  are 
the  great  divisions  of  his  subject,  and  thus  get  a  glance 
of  his  general  plan.  Then  take  a  single  chapter  or 
section,  and  see  how  he  has  divided  and  filled  that  up. 
If,  now,  you  wish  to  taste  of  the  dish  before  further 
examination  of  the  contents,  then  turn  to  the  place 
where  some  important  point  is  discussed,  and  where 
some  valuable  thought  professes  to  be  expanded  or 


156  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

How  to  know  an  author.  How  to  read  with  the  greatest  profit. 

illustrated,  and  see  how  it  is  executed.     If,  after  some 
few  such  trials,  you  should  find  your  author  obscure, 
dull,  pedantic,  or  shallow,  you  need  not  longer  fish  in 
these  waters.     It  will  be  hard  to  catch  fish  here,  and, 
when  caught,  they  will  be  too  small  for  use.     But  if 
you  find  the  author  valuable,  and  worth  your  attention, 
then  go  back  to  the  contents.     Examine  them  chap- 
ter by  chapter ;  then  close  the  book,  and  see  i'f  you 
have  the  plan  of  the  whole  work  distinctly  and  fully 
in  your  mind.    Do  not  proceed  till  this  is  done.  After 
you  have  this  map  all  distinctly  drawn  in  the  mind, 
then  get  the  first  chapter  vividly  before  you,  so  far  as 
the  contents  will  enable  you  to  do  it.     Now  proceed 
to  read.     At  the  close  of  each  sentence,  ask  yourself, 
"  Do  I  understand  that  ?  Is  it  true^,  important,  or  to  the 
point?     Any  thing  valuable  there  which  I  ought  to 
retain  ? "     At  the  close  of  each  paragraph,  ask   the 
same  questions.     Leave  no  paragraph   till  you  have 
the  substance  of  it  in  your  mind.     Proceed  in  this 
manner  through  the  chapter;  and,  at  the  close  of  the 
chapte'r,  look  back,  and  see  what  the  author  tried  to 
accomplish   by   it,  and  what  he  really  has  accom- 
plished.    As  you  proceed,  if  the  book  be  your  own, 
or  if  the  owner  will  allow  you  to  do  it,  mark  with 
your*  pencil,  in  the  margin,  what,  according  to  your 
view,  is  the  character  of  each  paragraph,  or  of  this  or 
that  sentence.     To  illustrate  what   I  mean,  I  will 
mention  a  few  marks  which  I  have  found  very  useful 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  157 

Marginal  marks. 

to  myself:  these,  or  any  thing  similar,  will  answer  the 
end  to  be  attained.  Perhaps  the  remark  had  better 
be  made  here,  that  you  can  never  read  to  advantage 
unless  you  feel  well,  and  the  mind  and  spirits  are 
buoyant.  Otherwise",  any  author  will  be  stupid. 
"  No  one  will  read  with  much  advantage,  who  is  not 
able,  at  pleasure,  to  evacuate  his  mind,  and  who 
brings  not  to  his  author  an  intellect  defecated  and 
pure ;  neither  turbid  with  care,  nor  agitated  with 
pleasure." 

Signifies,  that  this  paragraph  contains  the  main, 
or  one  of  the  main  propositions  to  be  proved 
or  illustrated  in  this  chapter ;  the  staple,  or  one 
of  the  staples,  on  which  the  chain  hangs. 

This  sentiment  is  true,  and  will  bear  expanding, 
and  will  open  a  field  indefinite  in  extent. 

This,  if  carried  out,  would  not  stand  the  test  of 
experience,  and  is  therefore  incorrect. 

1  I  Doubtful  as  to  sentiment. 
?!  I  Doubtful  in  point  of  fact. 


s 


Good,  and  facts  will  only  strengthen  the  posi- 


tion. 


158 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


Marginal  marks. 


Read  slow. 


C/D I  Bad ;  facts  will  not  uphold  it. 


Irrelevant  to  the  subject ;  had  better  have  been 
omitted. 


9  Repetition ;  the  author  is  moving  in  a  circle. 

if  |  Not  inserted  in  the  right  place. 

0  I  In  good  taste. 

0  |  In  bad  taste. 

Such  marks  may  be  increased  at  pleasure.  I  have 
found  the  above  sufficient.  These  need  not  be  adopt- 
ed, as  each  one  can  invent  them  for  himself;  but  care 
should  be  taken  always  to  make  the  same  mark  mean 
the  same  thing.  But  will  not  this  method  of  reading 
be  slowl  Yes,  very  slow,  and  very  valuable.  A 
single  book  read  in  this  way,  will  be  worth  a  score 
run  over.  It  will  compel  you  to  think  as  well  as  read, 
to  judge,  to  discriminate,  to  sift  out  the  wheat  from  the 
chaff.  It  will  make  thought  your  own,  and  will  so  fix 
it  in  the  mind,  that  it  will  probably  be  at  your  com- 
mand, at  any  future  time.  The  first  thing  to  be  done, 
in  order  to  make  what  you  read  your  own,  is  to  think 
as  you  read ;  think  while  you  read ;  and  think  when 
you  have  closed  the  book. 


,  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  159 

Reading  should  be  talked  over.  Reviewing-  books. 

It  is  also  very  important  to  talk  over  the  subject 
upon  which  you  are  reading,  with  a  friend.  Be  can- 
did enough  to  tell  him  that  you  have  just  been  read- 
ing, so  that  he  may  know  that  you  do  not  claim  what 
you  have,  as  your  own.  If  the  circle  embrace  several 
who  really  wish  to  fix  what  they  read  in  the  mind  by 
conversation,  so  much  the  better. 

"  Thought,  too,  delivered,  is  the  more  possessed : 
Teaching,  we  learn,  and  giving,  we  receive." 

"  Quicquid  didiceris  id  confestim  doceas ;  sic  et  tua 
firmare,  et  prodesse  aliis  potes.  Ea  doce  qua?  noveris, 
eaque  diversis  horis,  aliis  atque  aliis  conveniet  incul- 
care.  Satis  sit,  si  quispiam  te  audiat,  interea  exercita- 
tione  miram  rerum  copiam  tibi  comparaveris." 

If  your  friend  is  reading  the  same  book,  or  if  one 
is  reading  to  the  other,  the  advantages  of  conversation 
will  still  be  greatly  increased. 

No  small  part  of  the  time  should  be  spent  in  re- 
viewing what  you  have  read.  The  ,  most  eminent 
scholars  think  that  one  fourth  of  the  time  spent  in 
reading  should  be  thus  spent.  I  believe  the  esti- 
mate is  none  too  great.  But  is  it  not  evident,  that,  if 
you  read  with  the  marginal  marks  made  by  the  pencil 
in  your  hand,  as  described  above,  you  can  review  the 
author,  and  your  own  judgment  too,  in  a  very  short 
time  ?  One  glance  of  the  eye  will  show  you  what  is 
the  character  of  each  paragraph.  You  will  see  jusi 


160         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Classification. 

where  the  fish  is,  and  what  he  is,  and  at  once  you  can 
put  your  hook  in  and  take  him  out. 

There  is  another  very  important  thing  to  be  attend- 
ed to  in  reading.  I  mean  classification.  We  need  a 
power,  which,  in  the  present  state  of  our  existence,  we 
do  not  possess, — a  power  of  keeping  all  that  ever 
passes  through  our  mind  which  is  worth  keeping. 
Erasmus  (de  Rat.  Stud.)  dwells  upon  this  point 
with  great  beauty  and  force.  "Inter  legendum  aucto- 
rem  non  oscitanter  observabis,  ,si  quod  incidat  insigne 
verbum,  si  quod  argumentum,  aut  inventum  acute, 
aut  tortum  apte,  si  qua  sententia  digna  quce  memoriae 
commendetur  :  isque  locus  erit  apta  notula  quapiam  in- 
signiendus."  "  Quanto  pluris  feceris  exiguum  pro- 
ventum,  tanto  ad  altiora  doclrinae  vestigia  es  evasurus. 
Qui  vilissimos  quosque  nummos  admirantur,  intuen- 
tur  crebro,  et  servant  accurate,  ad  summas  saspe- 
numero  divitias  perveniunt;  pari  modo,  si  quis  apta- 
vit  sudorum  metam  bene  scribere,  discat  mirari  bene 
scripta,  discat  gaudere,  si  vel  nomina  duo  conjunxerit 
venuste." 

We  cannot  write  out,  or  copy,  what  we  read.  We 
can  remember  but  a  very  small  part  of  it.  What  shall 
we  do  ?  For  one,  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  making 
an  Index  Rerum  of  my  reading.  The  book  is  so 
classified,  that,  in  a  single  moment,  I  can  refer  to  any 
thing  which  I  have  ever  read,  and  tell  where  it  is  found, 
— the  book  and  the  page.  It  saves  the  labor  of  a  com- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         161 

Index  Rerum.  Newspapers  and  magazines. 

mon-place  book,  and  yet  preserves  all  that  can  be  pre- 
served. About  a  year  since,  I  published  the  plan  of 
my  own  Index  Rerum.  And  as  I  have  not,  from  the 
first,  had  any  pecuniary  interest  in  it,  I  may  say  that 
the  plan  is  highly  approved.  One  large  edition  has 
been  sold,  and  a  second  widely  scattered.  I  find,  also, 
since  its  publication,  that  the  late  venerable  President 
Porter  made  himself  such  an  index,  on  principles  some- 
what similar,  which  he  used  all  his  life.  This  plan, 
pursued  for  a  very  few  years,  will  give  you  an  index 
of  inestimable  value.  A  single  year  will  convince 
you  that  you  cannot  afford  to  lose  its  benefits.* 

What  shall  be  said  of  the  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines with  which  we  are  flooded  ?  Few  things  weaken 
the  mind  of  the  student  more  than  light,  miscellaneous 
reading.  You  find  it  the  fashion  to  have  read  a  world 
of  reviews,  magazines  and  papers.  They  are  not 
written  with  the  expectation  of  being  remembered. 
And  after  you  have  spent  hours  over  them,  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  you  have  done  any  thing  more  than 
crowd  the  mind  with  vague  images  and  impressions, 
which  decidedly  weaken  the  memory.  Every  time 
you  crowd  into  the  memory  what  you  do  not  ex- 

*  I  may  respectfully  refer  to  my  Index  Rerum  for  the  plan  and 
explanation  of  the  work.  While  the  kindest  things  have  been 
said  in  regard  to  it,  nothing  to  the  contrary  has  ever  been  said 
by  those  who  have  used  it.  It,  or  something  like  it,  should  be  the 
constant  companion  of  every  student. 
11 


162  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Reading  with  pen  in  the  hand.  Objects  in  reading. 

pect  it  to  retain,  you  weaken  its  powers,  and  you  lose 
your  authority  to  command  its  services.  The  fewer 
of  such  things  the  student  reads,  the  better.  Perhaps 
you  may,  now  and  then,  crowd  sweet-meats  into  the 
stomach,  which  it  neither  can  nor  will  digest ;  but  the 
fewer,  the  better. 

There  is  another  very  important  point  to  be  kept 
in  mind ;  and  that  is,  that,  in  reading,  you  should 
always  have  your  pen  by  you,  not  merely  to  make  a 
minute  in  your  index,  jjut  to  save  the  thoughts  which 
are  started  in  your  own  mind.  Did  you  never  notice, 
that,  while  reading,  your  own  mind  is  so  put  into  ope- 
ration, that  it  strikes  out  new  and  bold  trains  of  think- 
ing,— trains  that  are  worth  preserving,  and  such  as 
will  be  scattered  to  the  winds,  if  not  penned  down  at 
the  moment  of  their  creation  ?  A  wise  man  will  be 
as  careful  to  save  that  property  which  he  himself 
makes,  £5  that  which  he  inherits.  The  student 
should  be ;  for  it  will  be  of  vastly  more  value  to  him. 

I  cannot  close  this  chapter  without  saying  what 
seem  to  me  to  be  distinctly  the  three  great  objects  of 
reading. 

1.  Reading  forms  your  style. 

It  is  impossible  to  bring  your  mind,  for  any  length 
of  time,  under  the  influence  of  another  mind,  without 
having  your  language  and  modes  of  thinking  influ- 
enced by  that  mind.  Suppose  you  wish  to  write  in 
an  elevated,  measured,  dignified  style, — could  you 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  163 

Style.  Edwards  on  the  Will. 

easily  avoid  doing  it,  were  you  first  to  sit  down  a  fort- 
night and  read  Johnson's  works?  If  you  wish  to 
write  in  a  style  pure,  simple,  Saxon,  read  John  Bun- 
yan's  Pilgrim's  Progress  through  some  half  a  dozen 
times,  and  you  will  write  thus.  Could  you  walk 
arm  in  arm  with  a  man  for  days  together,  without 
catching  his  step  and  gait  ?  It  is  a  law  of  nature  that 
our  minds  insensibly  imbibe  a  coloring  from  those 
with  whom  we  associate,  whether  they  are  brought  in 
contact  by  the  living  voice  or  oa  the  written  page.- 
The  insect  that  lives  on  the  bark  of  the  tree  is  no  more 
certain  to  be  of  the  color  of  that  bark.  Hence  the 
importance  of  reading  good  authors, — those  who,  in  all 
respects^  make  a  good  impression  upon  you.  Books 
probably  do  more  than  all  other  things  to  form  the 
intellectual  and  moral  habits  of  the  student.  A  single 
bad  book  will  frequently  give  a  tone  and  a  bias  to  the. 
mind,  both  as  to  thought  and  language,  which  will 
last  during  life.  Hear  the  tegtimony  of  the  late  dis- 
tinguished President  Porter.  "  If  I  may  be  allowed 
here  to  speak  of  my  own  experience,  as  a  theological 
student,  I  would  say  that  to  Edwards  on  the  Will, 
which  I  read  at  three  several  times,  before  I  entered 
the  ministry,  besides  frequent  reviews  of  it  since,  I 
am  more  indebted  than  to  all  other  human  produc- 
tions. The  aid  which  it  gave  was  to  me  inval- 
uable."* 


164  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Illustration.  Stocking  the  mind  with  knowledge. 

A  lady,  who  now  and  then  writes  in  rhyme,  in- 
formed me  that  she  first  discovered  that  she  possessed 
any  of  the  rhyming  powers,  after  having  made  a  busi- 
ness, for  some  time,  of  copying  the  poetry  of  others. 
Owing  to  this  insensible,  undesigned  and  certain  imi- 
tation, such  writers  as  Addison  are  always  recommend- 
ed to  the  young.  I  may  mention  the  author  from 
whom  I  just  quoted,  as  an  example  of  pure,  clear  and 
beautiful  style.  Be  as  careful,  then,  not  to  read 
what  would  vitiate  your  style,  as  you  would  not  to 
keep  company  with  those  who  would  corrupt  your 
manners. 

2.  Reading  stocks  the  mind  with  knowledge. 

This  is  the  grand  object  of  reading.  We  come  into 
the  world  ignorant  of  every  thing.  The  history,  the 
experience  of  other  men  and  other  generations,  can  be 
ours  only  by  reading.  Human  nature,  in  all  ages,  ij 
the  same.  The  laws  of  mind  and  of  matter  do  not 
alter ;  and  thus  we  can,  in  a  short  life,  know  as  much, 
and  judge  as  accurately,  by  the  use  of  books,  as  we 
could  by  living  centuries,  having  no  lighfto  guide  us, 
except  that  of  our  own  individual  experience.  He  who 
would  be  compelled  to  go  across  the  Atlantic  to  ob- 
tain a  narration  of  facts  which  can  be  .read  in  two 
hours,  would  need  the  years  of  the  antediluvians,  and 
then  die  a  very  ignorant  man.  "Without  books," 
says  the  quaint  but  enthusiastic  Bartholin,  "  God  is 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  165 

Bartholin's  remark.  Stimulating  the  mind. 

silent,  justice  dormant,  physic  [natural  science]  at  a 
stand,  philosophy  lame,  letters  dumb,  and  all  things 
involved  in  Cimmerian  darkness." 

You  must  not  only  read,  and  make  books  the  foun- 
tain from  which  you  draw  your  knowledge,  but  you 
must  expect  to  draw  from  this  fountain  through  life. 
What  you  read  to-day,  Avill  soon  be  gone — expended, 
or  forgotten  ;  and  the  mind  must  be  continually  filled 
up  with  new  streams  of  knowledge.  Even  the  ocean 
would  be  dried  up,  were  the  streams  to  be  cut  off, 
which  are  constantly  flowing  into  it.  "  How  few  read 
enough  to  stock  their  minds !  And  the  mind  is  no 
widow's  cruise,  which  fills  with  knowledge  as  fast  as 
we  empty  it.  It  is  the  '  hand  of  the  diligent  which 
maketh  rich.' " 

3.  Reading  stimulates  and  puts  your  own  mental 
energies  into  operation. 

If  you  were  driven  into  a  corner,  and  compelled  to 
produce  something  as  your  own  thoughts  and  opinions 
on  an  important  point,  at  once,  you  would  wish  to 
stimulate  your  mind,  and  key  it  up  to  the  highest 
point.  How  would  you  do  it  ?  You  might  reach  it 
through  the  body,  and,  by  stimulating  that  with  wines  or 
opium,  might  excite  the  mind.  But,  then,  the  results 
thus  produced  would  be  uncertain.  They  might  be 
correct,  and  they  might  be  like  the  ravings  of  the 
mind  excited  by  disease.  But,  at  any  rate,  the  body 
and  mind  would  both  suffer  by  this  unnatural  excite- 


166  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Safe  stimulus.  Pleasures  of  reading. 

ment.  The  reaction  is  awfully  great ;  and,  therefore, 
you  may  not  do  it.  What  can  you  do?  I  reply,  that 
you  can  stimulate  your  mind  at  any  time,  when  the 
body  is  healthful,  by  reading.  No  one  can  read  the 
speeches  of  Burke,  of  Chatham,  and  of  our  own  Pa- 
trick Henry,  without  being  moved.  No  matter  what 
you  are  writing  upon,  or  upon  what  you  are  to  speak, 
you  cannot  read  a  good  book  without  being  stimu- 
lated. The  dream  of  Clarence,  and  the  speeches  of 
Hamlet,  in  Shakspeare ;  the  speeches  of  men  in  the 
senate ;  the  addresses  of  men  from  the  pulpit ;  and, 
above  all,  the  overwhelming  torrent  of  clear  thought, 
in  burning  language,  which  the  masters  of  ancient 
times  poured  out, — will  swell  the  bosom,  rouse  the  soul, 
and  call  all  your  own  powers  into  action.  This  effect 
of  books  will  last  through  life  ;  and  he  who  knows  how 
to  read  to  advantage,  will  ever  have  something  as 
applicable  to  his  mental  powers,  as  electricity  is  to 
move  the  animal  system.  The  man  who  has  sat  over 
the  workings  of  a  powerful  mind,  as  exhibited  on  the 
written  page,  without  being  excited,  moved,  and 
made  to  feel  that  he  can  do  something,  and  will  do 
something,  has  yet  to  learn  one  of  the  highest  pleasures 
of  the  student's  life,  and  is  yet  ignorant  of  what  rivers 
of  delight  are  flowing  around  him  through  all  the 
journey  of  life. 

I  close  by  repeating,  Do  not  read  too  many  books  : 
read  thoroughly  what  you  undertake.     Buy  but  few 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         167 

Buying  books. 

books ;  and  never  buy  till  you  can  pay  for  what  you 
buy.  You  cannot  more  than  half  enjoy  any  thing 
for  which  you  owe.  Make  all  that  you  do  read 
your  own ;  and  you  will  soon  be  rich  in  intellectual 
wealth,  and  ever  be  making  valuable  additions  to 
your  stores. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TIME. 

THERE  is  no  point,  upon  which  I  wish  to  touch,  so 
difficult  as  this ;  and  yet  not  one  upon  which  so  much 
good  might  be  done,  if  the  right  things  could  he  said, 
and  said  in  a  right  way.  It  is  easy  enough  to  write 
prettily  about  the  shortness  and  the  fleetness  of  time, 
but  not  so  easy  to  give  specific  rules  how  to  improve  it 
as  it  flies ;  but  it  is  far  easier  to  do  this,  than  to  confer 
the  disposition,  and  create  the  determination,  to  use  it 
to  the  best  possible  advantage.  A  miser  will  frequent- 
ly become  wealthy, — not  because  he  has  a  great  in- 
come, but  because  he  saves  with  the  utmost  care,  and 
spends  with  the  greatest  caution.  This  is  a  precept 
taught  us  in  the  very  morning  of  life,  but  generally 
not  learned  till  late  in  the  evening.  "  It  is  a  prodigious 
thing  to  consider  that,  although,  amongst  all  the  talents 
which  are  committed  to  our  stewardship,  time,  upon 
several  accounts,  is  the  most  precious ;  yet  there  is 
not  any  one  of  which  the  generality  of  men  are  more 
profuse  and  regardless.  Nay,  it  is  obvious  to  observe, 
that  even  those  persons  who  are  frugal  and  thrifty  in 
every  thing  else,  are  yet  extremely  prodigal  of  their 
best  revenue,  time ;  '  of  which,'  as  Seneca  nobly  says, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  J169 

Earl  of  Chatham's  habits.  Minute  knowledge. 

*  it  is  a  virtue  to  be  covetous.'  It  is  amazing  to  think 
how  much  time  may  be  gained  by  proper  economy.". 

This  is  a  hard  lesson,  but  it  must  be  learned.  "  Ad 
summa  perveniet  nemo,  nisi  tempore,  quo  nihil  esse 
fugacius  constat,  prudenter  utatur." 

The  celebrated  earl  of  Chatham  performed  an 
amount  of  business,  even  minute,  which  filled  common 
improvers  of  time  with  utter  astonishment.  He  knew, 
not  merely  the  great  outlines  of  public  business,  the 
policy  and  intrigues  of  foreign  courts,  but  his  eye 
was  on  every  part  of  the  British  dominions;  and 
scarcely  a  man  could  move,  without  his  knowledge 
of  the  man,  and  of  his  object.  A  friend  one  day 
called  on  him  when  premier  of  England,  and  found 
him  down  on  his  hands  and  knees  playing  mar- 
bles with  his  little  boy.  and  complaining  bitterly  that 
the  rogue  would  not  play  fair,  gaily  adding,  "  that  he 
must  have  been  corrupted  by  the  example  of  the 
French."  The  friend  wished  to  mention  a  suspicious- 
looking  stranger,  who,  for  some  time,  had  taken  up 
lodgings  in  London.  Was  he  a  spy,  or  merely  a  pri- 
vate gentleman  ?  Pitt  went  to  his  drawer,  and  took 
out  some  scores  of  small  portraits,  and,  holding  up 
one  which  he  had  selected,  asked,  "  Is  that  the  man  ? " 
"  Yes,  the  very  person."  "  O  !  I  have  had  my  eye 
on  him  from  the  moment  he  stepped  on  shore." 

All  this  was  accomplished  by  a  rigid  observance  of 


170         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Must  feel  the  necessity  of  improving  time.        Johnson's  reflections. 

time,  never  suffering  a  moment  to  pass  without  press- 
ing it  into  service. 

No  one  will  try  to  improve  his  time,  unless  he  first 
be  impressed  with  the  necessity.  Remember  that, 
at  the  very  best  calculation,  we  can  have  but  a 
short  time  in  which  to  learn  all,  and  do  all,  that  we 
accomplish  in  life.  There  is  something  melancholy 
in  the  following  picture,  drawn  by  the  great  hand  of 
Johnson : — "  When  we  have  deducted  all  that  is  ab- 
sorbed in  sleep  ;  all  that  is  inevitably  appropriated  to 
the  demands  of  nature,  or  irresistibly  engrossed  by 
the  tyranny  of  custom ;  all  that  passes  in  regulating 
the  superficial  decorations  of  life,  or  is  given  up  in  the 
reciprocations  of  civility  to  the  disposal  of  others ;  all 
that  is  torn  from  us  by  the  violence  of  disease,  or  sto- 
len imperceptibly  away  by  lassitude  and  languor, — we 
shall  find  that  part  of  our  duration  very  small,  of  which 
we  can  truly  call  ourselves  masters,  or  which  we  can 
spend  wholly  at  our  own  choice."  At  the  beginning 
of  each  day,  see  what,  and  how  much,  you  want  to 
accomplish  before  you  sleep,  and  then  at  once  begin 
to  execute  your  plans,  suffering  no  time  to  run  waste 
between  planning  and  acting.  At  the  close  of  the 
day,  be  impartial  and  thorough  in  reviewing  the  day, 
and  noting  wherein  you  have  failed.  There  is  much 
to  be  learned  from  the  somewhat  humorous  account  of 
the  Indian  Gymnosophists,  in  their  plans  for  educating 


w 

THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  171 

The  Indian  Gymnosophists.  Apuleius. 

their  disciples.  The  account  is  from  Apuleius,  a  Pla- 
tonic philosopher  of  the  second  century.  "  When 
their  dinner  is  ready,  before  it  is  served  up,  the  masters 
inquire  of  every  particular  scholar  how  he  has  em- 
ployed his  time  since  sun-rising :  some  of  them  an- 
swer, that,  having  been  chosen  as  arbiters  between 
two  persons,  they  have  composed  their  differences, 
and  made  them  friends ;  some,  that  they  have  been 
executing  the  orders  of  their  parents ;  and  others,  that 
they  have  either  found  out  something  new,  by  their 
own  application,  or  learned  from  the  instructions  of 
their  fellows.  But  if  there  happens  to  be  any  one 
among  them  who  cannot  make  it  appear  that  he  has 
employed  the  morning  to  advantage,  he  is  immediately 
excluded  from  the  company,  and  obliged  to  work, 
while  the  rest  are  at  dinner."  1  shall  be  excused,  if 
I  here  introduce  the  dream  of  the  amiable  Bolton.  If 
my  young  readers  have  met  with  it  before,  they  will 
see  that  it  will  bear  a  review. 

"  Dipping  into  Apuleius  for  my  afternoon's  amuse- 
ment, the  foregoing  passage  was  the  last  I  read,  before 
I  fell  into  a  slumber,  which  exhibited  to  me  a  vast 
concourse  of  the  fashionable  people  at  the  court-end  of 
the* town,  under  the  examination  of  a  Gymnosophist, 
how  they  had  passed  their  morning.  He  began  with 
the  men. 

"  Many  of  them  had  only  risen  to  dress — to  visit — to 


172  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Dream.  Imaginary  examination. 

amuse  themselves   at  the   drawing-room,  or  coffee- 
house. 

"  Some  had,  by  riding  or  walking,  been  consulting 
that  health  at  the  beginning  of  the  day,  which  the  close 
of  it  would  wholly  pass  in  impairing. 

"  Some,  from  the  time  they  had  got  on  their  own 
clothes,  had  been  engaged  in  seeing  others  put  on 
theirs — in  attending  levees — in  endeavoring  to  pro- 
cure, by  their  importunity,  what  they  had  disqualified 
themselves  for,  by  their  idleness.' 

"  Some  had  been  early  out  of  their  beds,  but  it  was 
because  they  could  not,  from  their*  ill  luck,  the  pre- 
ceding evening,  rest  in  them ;  and  when  risen,  as  they 
had  no  spirits,  they  could  not  reconcile  themselves  to 
any  sort  of  application. 

"  Some  had  not  had  it  in  their  power  to  do  .what  was 
of  much  consequence  :  in  the  former  part  of  the  morn- 
ing, they  wanted  to  speak  with  their  tradesmen  ;  and  in 
the  latter,  they  could  not  be  denied  to  their  friends. 

"  Others,  truly,  had  been  reading,  but  reading  what 
could  make  them  neither  wiser  nor  better — what  was 
not  worth  their  remembering,  or  what  they  should  wish 
to  forget. 

"  It  grieved  me  to  hear  so  many  of  eminent  rank, 
both  in  the  sea  and  land  service,  giving  an  account  of 
themselves  that  levelled  them  with  the  meanest  under 
their  command. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         173 

Virtuosi.  Encouraging  artists.  Buying  books. 

"Several  appeared  with  an  air  expressing  the  fullest 
confidence  that  what  they  had  to  say  for  themselves 
would  be  to  the  philosopher's  entire  satisfaction.  They 
had  been  employed  as  virtuosi  should  be, — had  been 
exercising  their  skill  in  the  liberal  arts,  and  encourag- 
ing the  artists.  Medals,  pictures,  statues,  had  under- 
gone their  examination,  and  been  their  purchase. 
They  had  been  inquiring  what  the  literati  of  France, 
Germany,  and  Italy,  had,  of  late,  published ;  and  they 
had  boittdit  what  suited  their  respective  tastes. 

"When  it  appeared  that  the  completing  a  Roman 
series  had  been  their  concern  who  had  never  read  over, 
in  their  own  language,  a  Latin  historian ;  that  they 
who  grudged  no  expense  for  originals,  knew  them 
only  by  hearsay,  from,  their  worst  copies  ;  that  the 
very  persons  who  had  paid  so  much  for  the  labor  of 
Rysbrack,  [an  Italian  landscape-painter,]  upon  Sir  An- 
drew's judgment,  would,  if  they  had  followed  their 
own,  have  paid  the  same  sum  for  that  of  Bird's  ;  that 
the  book-buyers  had  not  laid  out  their  money  on 
what  they  ever  proposed  to  read,  but  on  what  they 
had  heard  commended,  and  what  they  wanted  to  fit  a 
shelf,  and  fill  a  library  that  only  served  them  for  a 
breakfast-room ; — this  class  of  men  the  sage  pronoun- 
ced the  idlest  of  all  idle  people,  and  doubly  blamable, 
as  wasting  alike  their  time  and  their  fortune. 

"  The  folly  of  one  sex  had  so  tired  the  philosopher, 
that  he  would  suffer  no  account  to  be  given  of  the 


174  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Thieves.  First  thief— sleep. 

other.  It  was  easy  Tor  him  to  guess  how  the  females 
must  have  been  employed,  where  such  were  the  ex- 
amples in  those  they  were  to  honor  and  obey." 

There  are  certain  thieves  who  hang  around  a  stu- 
dent) and  who  daily  destroy  much  which  might  be 
of  great  value  to  him.  I  will  mention  some  of  these, 
that  you  may  know  when  you  even  hear  their  foot- 
steps ;_  for  hear  them  you  certainly  will,  and,  if  you 
have  any  thing  of  the  desires  of  a  student,  will  often 
cry  out,  "  O  fures, — latrones — O  tyrannos  orudelissi- 
mos  quorum  consilio  mihi  unquam  periit  Hora ! " 

1.  Sleep. 

Nothing  is  easier  than  to  cultivate  the  habit  of  sleep 
so  that  the  system  demands,  and  will  be  deranged  if 
the  demand  be  denied,  eight  or  ten  hours  out  of  the 
twenty-four.  Physicians  usually  say  that  six  hours 
are  sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  of  health  ;  and,  were 
the  eyes  to  close  the  moment  you  reach  the  pillow, 
perhaps  six  hours  would  be  sufficient  for  the  bed. 
But  suppose  you  allow  seven,  and  rigidly  adhere  to 
that  number  as  a  rule.  Would  you  not  have  much 
more  time  than  you  now  have  ?  Were  you  faithfully  to 
apply  that  time  to  your  studies,  which  is  now  occupied 
by  your  bed,  over  and  above  the  seven  hours,  would 
you  not  make  great  advances  in  almost  any  depart- 
ment of  study?  But  the  waste  of  time  is  hot  all. 
The  whole  system  is  prostrated  by  indulging  the  lux- 
ury of  sleep ;  and  you  are  as  really  and  as  certainly 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  175 

Sleeping  after  dinner.  Second  thief— indolence. 

disqualified  for  severe  study,  after  ten  hours  of  sleep, 
as  if  you  had  over-loaded  the  stomach  with  food. 
The  body  and  mind  are  both  weakened  by  it.  Take, 
then,  two  hours  from  the  sleep  of  most  who  call  them- 
selves students,  and  add  to  it  the  value  of  two  hours 
more,  saved  by  increased  vigor  of  mind,  by  the  dimi- 
nution of  sleep,  and  you  have  a  decided  gain. 
What  shall  be  said  of  the  practice  of  sleeping  after 
dinner?  A  few  words  will'  suffice.  If  you  wish  for 
a  dull,  feverish  feeling,  low  spirits,  prostration  of 
strength,  full,  aching  head,  and  a  stomach  that  refuses 
to  work  for  such  a  master,  then  be  sure  to  eat  hearty 
dinners,  and  sleep  immediately  after  them.  The  call 
will  be  as  regular  as  the  dinner.  But  your  fate,  as  a 
student,  is  sealed,  if  the  practice  be  continued. 

2.  Indolence. 

Indolence  differs  from  sloth  and  idleness  in  the  same 
way  that  the  parent  differs  from  the  child.  It  consists 
in  the  indulgence  of  a  heavy,  inactive  disposition,  en- 
treating you  to  delay,  till  some  future  time,  what  ought 
to  be  done  now.  This  will  beset  you  by  day  and  by 
night,  unless  you  act  from  principle,  and  a  high  sense 
of  moral  responsibility.  It  can  be  resisted  and  over- 
come only  by  making  your  studies  a  duty,  rather  than 
a  pleasure.  They  may,  at  times,  be  a  pleasure,  but 
should  always  be  a  duty.  Dr.  Fothergill,  an  eminent 
Quaker  physician,  says,  "I  endeavor  to  follow  my 
business,  because  it  is  my  duty,  rather  than  my  inter- 


176         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Third  thief— sloth.  Madame  de  Genlis. 

est :  the  latter  is  inseparable  from  a  just  discharge  of 
duty ;  but  I  have  ever  looked  at  the  profits  in  the  last 
place." 
3.  Sloth. 

This  has  frequently  and  justly  been  denominated 
the  rust  of  the  soul.  The  habit  is  easily  acquired ;  or, 
rather,  it  is  a  part  of  our  very  nature  to  be  indolent. 
It  grows  fast  by  indulgence,  and  soon  seizes  upon  the 
soul  with  the  violence  and  strength  of  an  armed  man. 
The  exhibitions  of  human  nature,  in  the  time  of 
Seneca,  were  the  same  as  at  our  day.  "  Quaedam  tem- 
pora  eripiuntur  nobis;  quacdam  subducuntur:  quae- 
dam  effluunt ;  turpissima  tamen  est  jactura  quae  per 
negligentiam  venit." 

The  great  mistake  with  us  seems  to  be,  that  we  feel 
that  we  cannot  do  any  great  thing,  unless  we  have  all 
our  time  to  devote  to  that  particular  thing.    "  If  I  only 
bad  the  time  to  go  and  ,sit  down,  day  after  day,  for  a 
number  of  days,  or  weeks,  to  examine  that  subject, 
and  to  write  on  that  point,  I  could  then  do  something." 
But,  as  it  is,  what  can  you  do  with  such  fragments  as 
you  gather,  here  and  there,  by  sitting  up  late,  or  rob- 
bing your  pillow  at  the  dawn  of  day  ?     Can  you  do 
any  thing  with  them  ?     No ;  you  must  wait  for  leisure, 
and  for  some  great  change  in  your  outward  circum- 
stances, before  you  can  hope  to  accomplish  much  ! 
This  is  a  great  mistake.     Madame  de  Genlis  tells  us, 
that,  when  a  companion  of  the  queen  of  France,  it  was 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  177 

Author's  experience.        Variety  grateful  to  the  mind.        Erasmus. 

her  duty  to  be  at  the  table  and  waiting  for  her  mistress 
just  fifteen  minutes  before  dinner.  These  fifteen 
minutes  were  saved  at  every  dinner,  and  a  volume  or 
two  was  the  result.  No  change,  great  and  marked, 
in  your  general  course,  is  necessary  to  make  new  and 
rich  acquisitions ;  only  save  every  moment  of  time 
which  you  now  throw  away,  and  you  will  be  able  to 
do  any  thing.  If  I  may  speak  from  my  own  experi- 
ence, I  can  testify  that  very  nearly  all  that  I  have 
ever  attained,  or  done,  out  of  the  regular  routine  of 
my  professional  duties,  has  been  by  taking  those  odd 
moments  which  are  so  easily  thrown  away.  There 
are  little  vacancies,  in  the  most  crowded  periods  of 
every  man's  duties,  which  are  thrown  away  in  resting 
from  the  great  object  of  pursuit.  But  there  is  no  way 
of  resting  the  mind  more  effectual,  than  to  have  some- 
thing on  hand  to  occupy  it.  The  mind  is  not  like  a 
hand-organ,  which  wears  as  fast  after  you  have  shifted 
the  key,  and  taken  a  new  tune,  as  before.  I  have  a 
friend,  who  is  most  laborious  in  his  profession,  and  so 
active  in  his  duties,  that  one  would  think  he  could 
never  enter  his  study ;  and  yet,  should  he  live  and 
labor  for  the  coming  ten  years  as  he  has  for  the  last  five, 
he  will  die  with  a  celebrity,  as  an  author,  that  will  not 
be  doubtful.  He  accomplishes  it  all  by  improving  the 
fragments  of  time.  The  well-known  Erasmus  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  wandering  from  coun- 
try to  country,  chasing  promises  of  patronage,  which 
12 


178  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Fourth  thief— visiting. 

were  held  out  only  to  deceive.  Yet,  by  an  undevi- 
ating  and  vigilant  improvement  of  those  hours  which 
will  always  remain  amid  the  greatest  activity,  this  poor 
scholar,  compelled  by  poverty  to  solicit  from  the 
great,  continued  to  write  more  valuable  books  than 
most  men,  in  like  circumstances,  would  have  felt  able 
to  read.  Johnson  declares  that  he  will  forever  stand 
in  the  first  rank  of  literary  heroes,  having  transmitted 
the  most  complete  and  perfect  delineations  of  the 
manners  of  his  age. 

4.   Visiting. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  some  of  our  time  should 
be  given  to  the  cultivation  of  the  socjal  affections.  But 
if  the  visiting  be  formal  and  ceremonious,  it  cannot 
well  be  too  seldom,  or  too  short.  It  is  frequently 
said  that  the  student  should  visit,  and,  in  the  society 
of  the  ladies,  to  relax  his  mind.  I  could  never  feel 
that  this  is  any  thing  different  from  an  insult  to  the 
sex.  .If  you  do  visit  with  them,  it  should,  in  part,  be, 
to  be  instructive  and  useful  to  them,  and  not  to  con- 
sider them  in  the  mere  light  of  "  parlor  ornaments," 
with  the  admiration  of  which  it  is  very  pleasant  for 
you  to  relax  your  mind  after  severe  study. 

And  how  many  dinner  or  evening  parties  can  the 
student  attend  weekly,  and  yet  be  a  student  ?  Not 
any.  He  who  would  obtain  knowledge,  must  have  his 
body  in  the  proper  condition,  his  mind  in  his  room, 
his  attention  all  his  own.  You  will  find  many  stu- 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  179 

Fifth  thief— reading  useless  books.  Novel-clubs. 

dents  who  visit  much;  but  they  are  not  what  we 
mean  by  good  scholars.  But  how  shall  you  ever  be- 
come acquainted  with  society,  and  become  familiar 
with  good  manners  ?  I  answer,  By  your  vacations. 
Nearly  a  quarter  of  your  time  is  given  up  to  vacations 
for  this  and  similar  purposes;  and  is  not  this  suf- 
ficient ? 

5.    Reading  useless  books. 

After  what  has  been  said  on  reading,  perhaps  you 
will  feel  impatient  that  it  should  be  introduced  again. 
But  you  are  probably  not  aware  how  much  time  is 
consumed  in  many  colleges  and  academies  in  reading 
such  books.  Clubs  exist  for  the  very  purpose  of 
purchasing  and  reading  novels ;  and  circulating  libra- 
ries are  exhausted  of  their  trash.  A  club  of  such 
worthies  have  been  known  to  be  all  in  their  places  in 
the  chapel  on  the  Sabbath,  each  with  a  novel  under 
his  cloak,  which  he  most  assiduously  read  during  the 
services.  I  once  heard  it  asserted  in  "  great  compa- 
ny," where  the  voices  were  too  many  and  too  loud  to 
be  resisted  by  my  feeble  remonstrance,  that  "nine 
tenths  of  all  the  students  in  our  colleges  spend  most  of 
their  time  in  reading  novels."  The  assertion  is-  not 
true ;  but  there  is  too  much  truth  in  it.  A  noble 
mind  and  a  manly  spirit  can  soon  become  so  much 
interested  in  what  will  be  of  use  in  future  life,  as  not 
to  need  or  even  to  relish  the  morbid  excitement  of 
fiction. 


180  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Sixth  thief— improper  study.  Whipping  dogs. 

6.    Improper  method  of  study. 

May  I  not  hope  that  what  I  have  said  under  the 
chapter  on  Study,  will  enable  you  to  understand  what 
*is  meant  by  study,  and  also  to  form  habits  which  will 
soon  make  it  pleasant?  Many  students  will  begin 
studies  which  have  no  present  use,  and  no  immedi- 
ate relation  to  their  prescribed  course.  They  are 
useless  or  puerile.  You  may  conquer  them;  but 
ad  bono  1  A  gentleman  was  riding  through  one  of 
our  large  towns,  when  a  dog  came  out  and  began  to 
bark  at  the  chaise.  He  began  to  strike  at  him  with 
his  whip.  •  This  only  increased  the  clamor  of  the  dog, 
which  brought  some  ten  or  a  dozen  more  to  his  aid. 
It  now  became  a  serious  business.  All  the  doors 
were  on  jar,  and  the  old  women  and  children  laughing 
at  the  contest.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  Was  a  gen- 
tleman to  be  put  down  so  ?  No.  He  descends,  ties 
his  horse,  applies  his  whip,  and  actually  whips  and 
drives  away  the  yelping  tribe.  But  as  the  conqueror 
ascended  his  chaise,  his  laurels  began  to  wither,  as  an 
old  lady  cried  after  him,  "  Why,  after  all,  you  have 
only  chased  away  a  dog !  "  Are  there  not  many  such 
battles  fought  by  students  who  pursue  studies  that  are 
out  of  the  way,  and  which,  if  chased,  are  as  honor- 
able as  the  conquest  just  mentioned  ?  These  remarks 
do  not  apply  to  any  thing  in  the  course  prescribed  for 
the  class. 

Music,  painting,  drawing,  and  the  like,  are  appro- 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  181 

Seventh  thief — wearied  mind.  Eighth  thief — procrastination. 

priate,  and  very  desirable,  in  their  places;  but  how 
many  have  wasted  their  time  in  their  pursuit,  and 
.  thus  not  merely  thrown  away  their  opportunities  for 
making  solid  attainments,  but  acquired  wrong  habits, 
which  clung  to  them  through  life !  Leave  your 
flute  at  home,  and  let  it  be  one  of  the  many  things  to 
cheer  you  during  vacations,  and  one  of  the  pleasures 
which  you  forego  in  term-time,  to  avoid  temp- 
tations. 

7.  We  lose  time  by  pursuing  a  study  when   the 
mind  is  wearied. 

There  is  danger  in  mentioning  this,  lest  you  mis- 
take that  restlessness,  and  that  uneasiness  of  mind,  so 
uniformly  attending  early  discipline,  for  real  weari- 
ness. But  the  mind,  as  well  as  the  body,  may  be 
jaded  ;  and  even  a  horse,  in  that  condition,  ought  not 
to  be  spurred.  Nil  invita  Minerva.  Relief  and 
refreshment  will  be  quickly  found  by  turning  to  some 
other  study.  "  Post  lectione  seu  stylo  defessus,  nihil 
nitor  repugnante  natura;  sed  exercitii  genus  aliud 
quaero,  quo  taedium  varietas  minuat." 

8.  Having  our  studies  press  us  in  consequence  of 
procrastination. 

It  is  in]  possible  to  have  the  mind  free  and  unem- 
barrassed, if  you  suffer  your  studies  to  be  driving  you. 
If  you  defer  your  lesson  to  the  very  last  moment  in 
which  you  can  possibly  get  it,  you  are  not  your  own 


182  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Illustrated.  Duke  of  Newcastle. 

master.  A  man  may  do  a  full  day's  work  in  the  after- 
noon ;  but  if  he  puts  it  off  till  that  time,  he  will  be 
unhappy  all  the-  morning,  over-laboring  in  the  after- 
noon, and  sick  in  the  evening.  He  who  does  any 
thing  in  haste,  no  matter  what  his  powers  of  mind  may 
be,  cannot  do  it  well.  If  I  have  fifty  miles  to  ride  to- 
day, I  can  do  it  all  after  dinner ;  but  to  Undertake  it 
would  be  unwise,  and  cruel  to  myself  and  my  horse. 
There  should  be  no  loitering  in  the  morning,  because 
you  can  retrieve  the  loss  in  the  evening.  Punctuality 
in  getting  your  lessons  is  of  the  very  first  importance. 
"  It  is  like  packing  things  in  a  box :  a  good  packer  will 
get  in  half  as  much  more  as  a  bad  one.  The  calmness 
of  mind  which  it  produces  is  another  advantage  of 
punctuality.  A  disorderly  man  is  always  in  a  hurry : 
he  has  no  time  to  speak  with  you,  because  he  is  going 
elsewhere ;  and  when  he  gets  there,  he  is  too  late  for 
his  business,  or  he  must  hurry  away  to  another  before 
he  can  finish  it.  It  was  a  wise  maxim  of  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle — 'I  do  one  thing  at  a  time.'  Punctuality 
gives  weight  to  character.  '  Such  a  man  has  made 
an  appointment ;  then  I  know  he  will  keep  it.'  And 
this  generates  punctuality  in  you ;  for,  like  other  vir- 
tues, it  propagates  itself.  Appointments,  indeed,  be- 
come debts :  I  owe  you  punctuality,  if  I  have  made 
an  appointment  with  you,  and  have  no  right  to  throw 
away  your  time,  if  I  do  my  own." 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  183 

Ninth  thief— not  completing  our  plans.  Papers  of  a  genius. 

9.    We  lose  time  by  beginning  plans  and  studies 
which  we  never  complete. 

If  the  habit  of  entering  upon  what  is  not  carried 
out  and  completed,  be  allowed  in  early  life,  the  evil 
increases  as  long  as  we  live.  A  friend  put  into  my 
hands  a  bundle  of  papers  which  belonged  to  one 
who  was  reputed  a  genius.  "  Were  they  worth  pub- 
lishing ? "  was  the  question.  Honesty  required  the 
answer  to  be—"  No."  There  was  hardly  a  single  thing 
completed.  Here  was  a  poem  begun ;  there  a  sonnet 
nearly  completed  ;  there  a  calculation  of  an  eclipse, 
about  two  thirds  finished,  with  great  accuracy  and  beau- 
ty ;  there  a  composition  commenced,  or  a  letter  about 
half  finished — evidence  sufficient  that  he  possessed 
mind,  and  even  genius;  but  had  he  lived,  with  those 
habits,  he  could  never  have  arrived  at  eminence 
Never  begin  any  thing,  without  carrying  it  through, 
unless  in  so  doing  you  must  sacrifice  some  moral 
feeling  or  princjple.  He  who  desists,  re  infecta, 
not  only  loses  all  his  labor,  but  allows  himself  in  a 
vicious  habit.  The  man  who  begins  to  build,  but, 
for  some  reason  or  other,  cannot  finish,  has  been 
the  object  of  ridicule  for  centuries.  It  is  not  essen- 
tial that  you  devote  all  your  time  to  the  point  on 
which  you  wish  to  receive  or  bestow  light;  but 
do  something  every  day,  and  in  time  the  thing  will 
be  completed,  however  formidable  it  appears  at  the 
commencement. 


184  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Order  essential.  Order  must  be  perfect.  Trifling  pursuits. 

Order  is  essential  to  a  proper  division  and  improve- 
ment of  our  time.  Any  one  who  has  never  made  the 
trial,  is  an  utter  stranger  to  the  calmness  and  pleasure 
with  which  the  soul  meets  her  daily  duties,  however 
various,  or  however  arduous,  if  they  return  periodi- 
cally at  the  same  hour.  There  will  be  a  sufficiency 
of  variety  to  afford  relief,  and  also  stimulus.  But  the 
order  should  be  as  complete  as  possible.  A  wheel 
that  turns  constantly  may  move  a  vast  power,  if  every 
cog  of  the  wheel  be  right ;  but  if  there  be  one  broken 
here,  and  another  there,  the  whole  machinery  will 
suffer,  and  eventually  break  in  pieces.  So,  if  you  try 
to  have  order  in  all  your  arrangements  of  study,  you 
will  suffer  whenever  it  be  broken  in  upon.  The  re- 
sult will  be,  that  you  will  abandon  it,  and  let  the  ship 
go  as  she  pleases,  and  how  she  pleases,  or  you  will 
seize  the  helm  with  an  arm  more  resolute  and  nerved, 
and  keep  her  true  to  her  course. 

If  you  would  make  time  valuable,  beware  of  low 
and  trifling  pursuits.  Do  nothing  of  which  you  will 
ever  be  ashamed,  either  here  or  hereafter.  Is  it  right 
that  one  who  has  your  advantages  and  your  respon- 
sibilities should  be  descending  to  tricks,  or  even  to 
trifles  ?  What  is  the  verdict  of  a  world  against  Nero, 
who,  when  emperor  of  Rome,  went  up  and  down 
Greece,  challenging  the  fiddlers  to  beat  him  ?  JEro- 
pus,  king  of  Macedonia,  spent  his  time  in  making  lan- 
terns,— a  very  useful  article,  but  no  business  for  a  king. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  185 

The  hunting  patriarch.  Dressing. 

Harcatius,  king  of  Parthia,  employed  his  time  in 
catching  moles,  and  was  one  of  the  best  mole-catchers 
in  the  kingdom;  but  does  it  tell  to  his  credit?  Was 
Biantes,  of  Lydia,  a  useful  man,  or  worthy  ruler, 
though  he  was  excellent  at  filing  needles  ?  In  the 
tenth  century,  there  was  a  patriarch  in  the  church,  by 
the  name  of  Theophylact,  who  had  his  time  employ- 
ed in  rearing  horses.  He  had  in  his  stable  above 
two  thousand  hunting  horses,  fed  upon  the  richest 
dates,  grapes,  and  figs,  steeped  in  wines.  To  say  noth- 
ing about  the  waste  of  money,  does  not  the  voice  of 
mankind  execrate  such  an  abuse  of  time,  and  talents, 
and  station  ?  And  yet,  what  is  the  difference  between 
such  a  waste  of  life,  and  that  which  too  many  young 
men  make,  excepting  that,  in -the  former  case,  the 
responsibility  may  be  greater?  What  "diseases  of 
labor"  truly ! 

By  many,  much  time  is  wasted  in  dressing  the  per- 
son. You  will  not  unfrequently  find  those  who  will 
spend  from  one  hour  to  two  and  a  half  every  morning 
in  shaving  and  dressing.  What  do  they  accomplish  in 
life  ?  They  usually  have  smooth  chins  and  look  neat. 
As  for  accomplishing  any  thing  good  or  great,  they 
will  never  do  either.  Dress  and  neatness  are  highly 
commendable ;  but  we  cannot  have  our  wagons  of 
mahogany,  and  highly  varnished,  if  we  expect  to  carry 
heavy  loads  over  mountains  with  them. 

I  shall  speak  of  the  necessity  of  exercise  in  another 


186  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Diversions.          Life  may  be  doubled.          Locke's  observations. 

place  ;  but,  instead  of  that  exercise  which  is  to  refresh 
and  invigorate,  how  many  spend  much  of  their  time 
in  sports,  and  call  them  recreations !  We  may  have 
sauces  to  our  dinner ;  but  he  who  should  try  to  live 
solely  upon  them,  would  find  himself  shortly  becom- 
ing lean.  Taylor  calls  such -diversions  "garments 
made  all  of  fringes,"  neither  comfortable  nor  becom- 
ing. You  are  in  danger  from  any  recreation  which 
you  love  much  ;  for  men  always  give  their  time  freely 
to  what  they  love. 

He  who  can  make  two  spires  of  grass  grow  where 
but  one  grew  before,  is  said  to  be  a  benefactor  to  his 
species ;  and  I  doubt  not  that  he  who  would  show 
you  a  method  by  which  you  could  double  or  treble 
the  length  of  your  existence  on  earth,  would  be  a 
benefactor  also.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  may  be 
done. 

Locke  observes  "  that  we  get  the  idea  of  time  or 
duration,  by  reflecting  on  that  train  of  ideas  which  suc- 
ceed one  another  in  our  minds ;.  that,  for  this  reason, 
when  we  sleep  soundly  without  dreaming,  we  have  no 
perception  of  time,  or  the  length  of  it,  while  we  sleep ; 
and  that  the  moment  wherein  we  leave  off  to  think, 
till  the  moment  we  begin  to  think  again,  seems  to 
have  no  distance.  And  so,  no  doubt,  it  would  be  to  a 
waking  man,  if  it  were  possible  for  him  to  keep  only 
one  idea  in  his  mind  without  variation,  and  the  suc- 
cession of  others  ;  and  we  see,  that  one  who  fixes  his 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  187 

Who  lives  longest  Thought  from  the  prophet. 

thoughts  very  intently  on  one  thing,  so  as  to  take  but 
little  notice  of  the  succession  of  ideas  that  pass  in  his 
mind,  while  he  is  taken  up  with  the  earnest  contem- 
plation, lets  slip  out  of  his  account  a  good  part  of  that 
duration,  and  thinks  the  time  shorter  than  it  is." 
Hence,  on  this  principle,  you  will  notice  that  life 
always  seems  short,  in  looking  back,  to  those  who 
have  been  troubled  with  but  few  thoughts.  Idiots, 
and  sick  people,  frequently  have  weeks  pass  away, 
while  to  them  they  seem  scarcely  so  many  days.  Of 
course,  it  follows,  that  he  who  has  the  most  thoughts 
pass  through  his  mind,  and  the  most  rapid  succession 
of  distinct  ideas,  will  take  most  notice  of  time,  and,  in 
the  same  space  of  time,  will  live  the  longest ;  so  that 
the  curious  remark  of  the  philosopher  Malebranche  is 
far  from  being  improbable.  The  thought  is  beautiful, 
as  well  as  curious.  "It  is  possible  tn"at  some  creatures 
may  think  half  an  hour  as  long  as  we  do  a  thousand 
years,  or  look  upon  that  space  of  duration  which  we 
call  a  minute,  as  an  hour,  a  week,  a  month,  or  a  whole 
age."  If  Locke's  theory  be  correct,  it  follows  that 
time  will  seem  long  or  short,  just  in  proportion  as  our 
thoughts  are  quick  or  slow.  Hence  he  who  dies  in 
the  very  morning  of  life,  not  unfrequently  lives  longer 
than  another  who  falls  at  threescore  and  .ten. 
Hence,  too,  the  prediction  of  the  prophet  may  be  lite- 
rally true — "The  child  shall  die  an  hundred  years 
old."  The  Eastern  nations  have  long,  to  all  appear- 


188  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Curious  illustration.  Turkish  story. 

ance,  had  this  thought.  I  will  give  the  exquisite 
illustration  drawn  by  the  masterly  pen  of  Addison. 
'  "  In  the  Koran,  it  is  said,  that  the  angel  Gabriel 
took  Mahomet  out  of  his  bed  one  morning,  to  give  him 
a  sight  of  all  things  in  the  seven  heavens,  in  paradise, 
and  in  hell,  which  the  prophet  took  a  distinct  view  of, 
and,  after  having  held  ninety  thousand  conferences  with 
God,  was  brought  back  again  to  his  bed.  All  this, 
says  the  Koran,  was  transacted  in  so  small  a  space  of 
time,  that  Mahomet,  on  his  return,  found  his  bed  still 
warm,  and  took  up  an  earthen  pitcher  which  was 
thrown  down  at  the  very  instant  that  the  angel  Gabri- 
el carried  him  away,  before  the  water  was  all  spilt ! 

"  There  is  a  very  pretty  story  in  the  Turkish  Tales, 
which  relates  to  this  passage  of  that  famous  impostor, 
and  bears  some  affinity  to  the  subject  we  are  now 
upon.  A  sultan*of  Egypt,  who  was  an  infidel,  used 
to  laugh  at  this  circumstance  in  Mahomet's  life,  as 
what  was  altogether  impossible  and  absurd ;  but,  con- 
versing one  day  with  a  great  doctor  in  the  law,  who 
had  the  gift  of  working  miracles,  the  doctor  told  him 
he  would  quickly  convince  him  of  the  truth  of  this 
passage  in  the  history  of  Mahomet,  if  he  would  con- 
sent to  do  what  he  would  desire  of  him.  Upon  this, 
the  sultan  was  directed  to  place  himself  by  a  huge 
tub  of  water,  which  he  did  accordingly ;  and  as  he 
stood  by  the  tub  amidst  a  circle  of  his  great  men,  the 
holy  man  bid  him  plunge  his  head  into  the  water  and 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         189 

The  exiled  king.  King  returned. 

draw  it  up  again.  The  king  accordingly  thrust  his 
head  into  the  water,  and  at  the  same  time  found  him- 
self at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  on  the  sea  shore.  The 
king  immediately  began  to  rage  against  his  doctor  for 
this  piece  of  treachery  and  witchcraft ;  but,  at  length, 
knowing  it  was  in  vain  to  be  angry,  he  set  himself  to 
think  on  proper  methods  for  getting  a  livelihood  in 
this  strange  country.  Accordingly,  he  applied  himself 
to  some  people  whom  he  saw  at  work  in  a  neighbor- 
ing wood.  Those  people  conducted  him  to  a  town  that 
stood  at  a  little  distance  from  the  wood,  where,  after 
some  adventures,  he  married  a  woman  of  great  beau- 
ty and  fortune.  He  lived  with  this  woman  so  long, 
that  he  had  by  her  seven  sons  and  seven  daughters. 
He  was  afterwards  reduced  to'  great  want,  and  forced 
to  think  of  plying  in  the  streets  as  a  porter  for  his 
livelihood.  One  day,  as  he  was  walking  alone  by  the 
sea  side,  being  seized  with  many  melancholy  reflec- 
tions upon  his*  former  and  his  present  state-  of  life, 
which  had  raised  a  fit  of  devotion  in  him,  he  threw 
off  his  clothes,  with  a  design  to  wash  himself,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  Mahometans,  before  he  said 
his  prayers. 

"After  his  first  plunge  into  the  sea,  he  no  sooner  rais- 
ed his  head  above  the  water,  but  he  found  himself 
standing  by  the  side  of  the  tub,  with  the  great  men  of 
his  court  about  him,  and  the  holy  man  at  his  side. 
He  immediately  upbraided  his  teacher  for  having  sent 


190         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  moral.  Who  enjoys  most. 

him  on  such  a  course  of  adventures,  and  betrayed  him 
into  so  long  a  state  of  misery  and  servitude,  but  was 
wonderfully  surprised  when  he  heard  that  the  state 
he  talked  of  was  only  a  dream  and  a  delusion ;  that 
he  had  not  stirred  from  the  place  where  he  then  stood ; 
that  he  had  only  dipped  his  head  into  the  water,  and 
immediately  taken  it  out  again. 

"  The  Mahometan  doctor  took  this  occasion  of  in- 
structing the  sultan,  that  nothing  was  impossible  with 
God:  that  he,  with  whom  a  thousand  years  are  but  as 
one  day,  can,  if  he  pleases,  make  a  single  day,  nay,  a 
single  moment,  appear  to  any  of  his  creatures  as  a 
thousand  years." 

If  life  may  thus  be  prolonged,  why  will  it  not  hang 
heavy  upon  us,  as  it  does  with  many  now?  The 
reason,  is  this,  that  he  who  has  a  constant  stream  of 
useful  and  valuable  thoughts  passing  through  his  mind, 
will  enjoy  each  one  of  them,  while  he  who  has  few 
thoughts,  will  have  more  passions  in  exercise ;  and  the 
soul  soon  palls  upon  being  forced  to  attend  only  to  the 
passions.  "  The  latter  is  like  the  owner  of  a  barren 
country,  that  fills  his  eye  with  the  prospect  of  naked 
hills  and  plains,  which  produce  nothing  either  profit- 
able or  ornamental ;  the  other  beholds  a  beautiful  and 
spacious  landscape,  divided  into  delightful  gardens, 
green  meadows,  fruitful  fields,  and  can  scarce  cast  his 
eye  on  a  single  spot  in  his  possessions,  that  is  not  cov- 
ered with  some  beautiful  plant  or  flower  " 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         191 

Save  the  fragments  of  time.  What  might  be  done. 

Some  men,  while  young,  rush  into  open,  high-hand- 
ed sin,  and  plunge  headlong  into  guilt,  which  quickly 
leads  them  to  the  slaughter-house,  or  which,  if  they 
survive,  lays  up  food  for  future  repentance  and  deep 
remorse.  But  this  is  not  the  history  of  the  great 
majority  of  our  educated  men.  But  the  sin  which,  of 
all  others,  most  constantly  lies  at  their  door,  is  the 
waste  of  time  while  young,  and,  indeed,  all  the  jour- 
ney of  life.  An  evening  is  spent  in  chatting  and 
smoking ;  it  seems  a  small  space  of  time ;  but  when 
life  closes,  and  we  leave  time  to  go  into  eternity,  how 
many  of  these  fragments  lie  scattered  and  murdered 
by  the  way-side !  How  deep  will  be  our  repentance 
when  too  late  to  remedy  the  defect,  if  not  too  late  to 
seek  forgiveness !  There  is  no  one  thing  of  which 
students  are  so  prodigalj  as  of  their  time.  There  are 
some  exceptions — rari  nantes ;  but  multitudes  would 
be  amazed  at  their  conduct,  had  they  been  as  prodigal 
of  any  thing  else.  You  cannot  read  that  page  in 
Tacitus  readily;  you  never  read  any  of  the  Latin 
poets  except  the  drudgery  spent  on  Virgil  and  Hor- 
ace ;  but  have  you  not  wasted  moments,  and  hours 
sufficient  to  have  made  you  at  home  in  Latin  ?  You 
cannot  run  that  Greek  verb  through  all  the  synopsis, 
and  are  blank  at  a  page  in  Homer;  but 'might  you 
not  have  made  yourself  an  adept  in  Greek,  and  con- 
quered the  dialects,  and  the  idioms,  had  you  wasted 
no  time  ?  You  neglect  duties,  public  and  private,  and 


192  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Necessity  of  prayer.          Evening  review.          Queen  Elizabeth. 

satisfy  conscience,  that  you  have  not  time  -to  fulfil 
them  all.  But  the  wasted  hours  cry  out  against  you. 
They  should  have  been  seized  and  stamped  with  what 
would  have  met  the  approbation  of  conscience  and  of 
God,  as  they  winged  their  way  to  his  throne. 

In  this  place  I  may  add,  that  your  time  will  pass 
neither  smoothly  nor  profitably,  unless  you  seek  and 
receive  the  blessing  of  your  Maker  upon  you  daily.  1 
am  not  now  speaking  as  a  theologian,  but  as  an  observ- 
er of  men ;  and  I  can  unhesitatingly  assure  you,  that 
there  is  no  one,  and  no  ten  things  that  will  so  much  aid 
you  to  improve  your  time  as  the  daily  practice  of  prayer. 
"  Bene  precasse  est  bene  studuisse,"  according  to  a  great 
master  in  study.  In  the  morning,  ask  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  your  studies,  that  he  who  created  the  mind, 
and  has  his  finger  upon  it  every  moment,  would  keep 
it  sound  and  clear,  and  instruct  it ;  that  he  give  you 
a  disposition  to  spend  all  your  time  in  his  fear,  and  to 
improve  it  for  him.  In  the  evening,  recall  the  day,  and 
the  hours,  and  see  wherein  you  have  come  short  of 
duty,  and  what  you  have  this  day  done,  or  omitted 
doing,  which  the  conscience,  quickened  by  prayer, 
tells  you  should  have  been  done.  Alas,  how  many 
have  squandered  this  precious  gift,  and  then,  when 
they  came  to  lie  on  the  bed  of  death,  have  reproached 
themselves  with  a  keenness  of  rebuke,  which  language 
was  too  poor  to  convey !  The  lofty  Queen  Elizabeth, 
on  her  dying  bed,  cried  out,  "  Millions  of  money  for 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  193 

Dr.  Young. 

one  inch  of  time ! "  How  many  such  inches  had  she 
thrown  away !  The  piercing  cry  came  too  late.  "  O," 
said  one,  as  he  lay  dying,  "  call  back  time  again :  if 
you  can  call  back  time  again,  then  there  may  be  hope 
for  me ;  but  time  is  gone ! " 

"Where  is  that  thrift,  that  avarice  of  time, 
(Blest  avarice,)  which  the  thought  of  death  inspires  ? 
O  time  !  than  gold  more  sacred ;  more  a  load 
Than  lead  to  fools  ;  and  fools  reputed  wise. 
What  moment  granted  man  without  account? 
What  years  are  squandered,  wisdom's  debt  unpaid ! 
Haste,  haste  !  he  lies  in  wait,  he's  at  the  door, 
Insidious  Death !  should  his  strong  hand  arrest, 
No  composition  sets  the  prisoner  free. 
Eternity's  inexorable  chain 
Fast  binds,  and  vengeance  claims  the  full  arrear. 
On  all  important  time,  through  every  age, 
Though  much  and  warm  the  wise  have  urged,  the  man 
Is  yet  unborn  who  duly  weighs  an  hour. 
Who  murders  time,  he  crushes  in  the  birth 
A  power  ethereal,  only  not  adored." 
13 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CONVERSATION. 

"  WHAT  a  delightful  evening  we  have  spent !  "  said 
a  student  to  his  companion,  as  they  were  returning 
home  from  a  visit  during  vacation. 

"  Yes,  I  do  not  know  as  I  ever  spent  one  more 
agreeably ;  and  yet  I  cannot  tell  exactly  what  it  was 
that  rendered  it  so  agreeable.  The  circle  all  seemed 
to  be  happy,  and  parted  so ;  but,  for  myself,  I  was  so 
taken  up  with  the  conversation  of  that  stranger,  that  I 
took  little  notice  of  what  the  rest  were  doing." 

"  That  was  precisely  my  own  case.  Without  seem- 
ing to  know  it,  he  possesses  uncommon  powers  of  con- 
versation." 

And  this  was  the  whole  secret  of  the  pleasures  of 
the  evening — that  there  was  one  in  the  circle,  who,  by 
nature  and  education,  was  fitted  to  instruct  and  please 
by  his  conversation. 

There  are  few  things  more  neglected  than  the  cul- 
tivation of  what  we  denominate  conversational  powers; 
and  yet  few  which  can  be  more  subservient  to  bestow- 
ing pleasure  and  advantage.  The  man  who  knows 
precisely  how  to  converse,  has  an  instrument  in  his 


THE   STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  1% 

Conversation  the  gift  of  our  Creator.         Power  of  persuasion. 

possession  with  which  he  can  do  great  good,  and  which 
will  make  him  welcome  in  all  circles. 

Take  notice  as  you  are  introduced  to  a  stranger. 
In  a  short  time,  you  find  he  is  interesting.  You  are 
in  the  stage ;  you  hear  him,  and  forget  the  time,  and 
are  surprised  at  the  rapidity  with  which  you  approach 
the  place  at  which  you  must  part.  What  makes  him 
so  interesting  ?  It  is  his  powers  of  conversation. 

The   advantages  of  this  mode  of  communicating 
ideas  need  not  be  dwelt  upon  here.     It  is  the  method 
devised  by  the  infinite  Creator  for  the  happiness  of 
man,  in  all  circumstances.     It  is  the  most  perfect  way 
of  giving  and  receiving  instruction.     It  is  simple,  as 
are  all  his  works.     We  may  produce  strong,  dazzling 
lights,  by  chemical  combinations ;  but  the  pure  light 
of  heaven  is  the  most  perfect.     We  may  tickle  the 
appetite  by  artificial  drinks,  but  the  pure  water  which 
God  has  provided  for  man,  in  all  circumstances,  is  the 
most  perfect  drink.     Speech,  between  man  and  man, 
is  the  universal  medium  of  transmitting  thought,  and 
it  is,  by  far,  the  best  that  can  be  devised.     We  now 
wish  to  know  how  we  may  best  cultivate   and  use 
this  faculty.     Every  one  feels  the  importance  of  this 
knowledge.     If  you  have  a  friend  whom  you  wish  to 
warn,  or  upon  whose  mind  you  wish  to  make  a  deep 
impression,  you  know  the  most  perfect  way  of  doing  it, 
is  with  the  tongue.     You  first  think  over  his  situation, 
his  prospects  and  dangers;    you  think  over  all  his 


V 

196  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


Use  in  obtaining  information. 

temptations,  what  apologies  can  reasonably  be  offer- 
ed, and  what  he  will  probably  offer  for  himself;  you 
then  think  of  the  motives  with  which  to  impress  him. 
You  then  go  to  him ;  you  try,  by  tones  and  voice,  to 
convince  him  that  you  are  his  friend ;  you  tell  him 
your  fears  in  language  chosen  and  tender,  and  then 
you  pour  out  your  heart  upon  him,  just  as  you  had 
planned  beforehand.  You  are  perfectly  aware  that 
you  have  used  the  best  and  most  appropriate  means 
in  your  power,  when  you  have  exhausted  your  pow- 
ers of  persuasion  in  conversation.  If  you  cannot  reach 
his  heart  and  conscience  in  this  way,  you  despair  of 
doing  it. 

If  you  wish  for  information  on  a  particular  subject, 
and  there  is  a  book  which  has  it  all  drawn  out  on 
paper,  and  there  is  a  friend  who  perfectly  understands 
it,  why  do  you  go  to  that  friend  and  hear  him  con- 
verse, rather  than  to  the  book?  Because  you  know 
that  the  latter  method  is  not  the  most  interesting  and 
easy  way  of  obtaining  information.  You  can  ask  light 
on  particular  points ;  you  can  state  your  objections ; 
you  can  compare  with  what  you  already  know ;  you 
can  soon  know  all  that  your  informer  knows.  Varilles 
has  said  that,  "  Of  ten  things  which  he  knew,  he  had 
learned  nine  from  conversation.1' 

Make  it  a  matter  of  study,  then,  to  understand  this 
subject,  and  not  merely  try  to  free  yourself  from  faults, 

but  to  make  it  an  accomplishment, — a  part  of  your 

.    * 


* 

THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  197 

Floating'  thoughts.  City  inhabitants. 

education.  There  is  scarcely  any  way  by  which  you 
can  gain  a  stronger  hold  upon  the  circles  in  which  you 
may  move,  or  in  which  you  may  do  more  good.  In 
conversation  all  are  free-hooters,  and  may  carry  away 
and  appropriate  to  themselves  as  much  as  they  can  ; 
and  there  is  a  vast  quantity  of  thought  and  informa- 
tion afloat  upon  the  great  mass  of  intelligent  mind, 
which  never  has  been,  and  never  will  be,  committed 
to  paper.  He  who  is  permitted  to  draw  from  this 
great  fountain,  can  hardly  fail  of  having  thought  pour- 
ed upon  him  sufficient  to  render  him  intelligent,  even 
though  he  should  never  open  a  book.  You  will  see 
this  every  day  in  our  cities.  There  the  mass  of  men 
are  too  busy  and  hurried  to  read.  They  do  not  read ; 
and  yet,  when  you  meet  a  man  from  the  city,  you  ex- 
pect to  find  him  an  interesting  and  an  intelligent  man. 
If  he  has  long  resided  there,  you  will  hardly  be  disap- 
pointed. The  reason  is  obvious :  he  is  thrown  where 
all  this  thought  is  floating  from  mind  to  mind  ;  where 
mind  is  constantly  coming  in  contact  with  mind ;  and 
he  feels  the  influence.  A  light  that  is  hardly  seen 
when  standing  alone,  will,  when  placed  among  others, 
not  only  give  but  receive  light. 

This  constant,  direct  contact  of  mind  with  mind, 
invariably  tends  to  soften  and  refine  the  feelings ;  so 
that,  when  you  hear  it  said  of  a  man,  that  he  keeps 
the  best  of  company,  you  have  no  doubt  but  he  is  a 
man  of  refinement  and  politeness.  The  language 


198  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Conversation  refines  the  feelings ;  but  a  poor  substitute  for  books. 

which  he  has  been  accustomed  to  use  has,  at  least, 
the   appearance   of   conveying  refined   thought   and 
feeling,  and  we  insensibly  conform  our  feelings  to  the 
dress  in  which  we  clothe  them.     An  actor  who  per- 
sonifies a  king  or  a  hero,  and  uses  his  language,  fre- 
quently feels  that  he  is  what  he  represents ;  and  were 
he  never  to  put  off  the  habits  and  language  which  he 
represents  for  a  few  hours,  he  would  soon  use  the  lan- 
guage of  kings  as  his  own,  and  have  his  feelings  cor- 
respond.    There  are  two  dangers  to  which  people  in 
cities,  and  to  which  those  who  are  similarly  situated, 
may  be  exposed :  the  one  is,  that  ^f  using  the  lan- 
guage of  kindness  and  refinement  till  it  becomes  a 
habit,  when  they  do  not  feel  it,  and  thus  make  dupes 
of  others,  and  soon  make  dupes  of  themselves.     Any 
hypocrisy  may  be  practised  till  it  no  longer  seems  a 
borrowed  character.     At   any  rate,  there  is  -danger 
that,  when  the  forms  are  greafly  studied,  the  heart, 
under  those  forms,  is  seldom  exercised.     The  other 
danger  is,  that  the  information  gathered  from  conver- 
sation alone,  be  incorrect,  and  yet  be  esteemed  of  good 
authority.     No  information  thus  acquired  can  be  re- 
lied upon.     Books  are  the  only  correct  reporters  of 
facts ;  and  even  they  will  sometimes  invent  facts,  and 
imagine   history.      A   man   who   relies   solely   upon 
conversation  and  society  for  stocking  his  mind,  will 
be  a  very  ready  man,  a  very  inaccurate  man,  and, 
consequently,  incapable  of  being  an  accurate  judge. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  199 

Student's  advantages.        First  suggestion — talking  upon  trifles. 

He  can  amuse  you — he  can  interest  you — he  can  give 
you  new  views  of  things ;  but  you  cannot  rely  upon 
the  soundness  of  his  judgment. 

The  student  has  an  immense  advantage  over  all 
other  classes  of  the  community ;  for  he  can  unite  the 
two  most  perfect  and  desirable  methods  of  gaining 
information — the  accuracy  and  profound  thoughts 
which  can  be  found  only  in  books,  and  the  general  in- 
formation concerning  men  and  things,  which  conver- 
sation and  society  will  bestow.  Consequently,  unfler 
certain  restrictions,  it  becomes  as  really  his  duty  to 
improve  by  conversation  as  by  books.  But  as  con- 
versation is  a  kind  of  commerce,  towards  which  every 
person  ought  to  pay  his  share,  you  act  against  all 
honorable  rules  of  commerce,  if  you  are  not  so  pre- 
pared as  to  furnish  your  quota.  If  you  would  draw 
out  facts  and  information,  and  elicit  mental  effort  from 
others,  which  may  be  useful  to  you,  it  is  certainly 
your  duty  to  cultivate  your  talents  and  powers,  so  that 
they  may,  in  turn,  derive  the  same  benefit  from  your 
society.  You  act  an  ungenerous  part,  if  this  be  not 
the  case. 

Allow  me  to  continue  to  be  specific  in  my  hints,  as 
it  is  always  true,  that,  when  judicious  advice  is  given, 
the  more  specific  it  is,  the  more  valuable. 

1.  Do  not  waste  your  time,  and  that  of  the  compa- 
ny, in  talking  upon  trifles. 

The  amount  of  attention  bestowed  upon  trifles  and 


200  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Every  circle  may  have  profitable  conversation. 

follies,  frequently  renders  conversation  so  nauseous  to 
an  intelligent  mind,  that  it  is  disgusted.  The  conse- 
quence is,  that  such  a  man  withdraws  from  company, 
and  loses  all  the  advantages  of  society.  He  cannot 
bear  to  spend  hours  of  precious  time  in  hearing  the 
narrow-minded  dwell  upon  the  merest  trifles  in  the 
world.  He  has  no  taste  for  entering  into  them,  and 
he  sits  silent  till  he  takes  a  final  leave.  While  I  would 
not  applaud  a  taste  that  is  delicate  and  fastidious  to 
a  fault,  and  which  could  endure  nothing  short  of  the 
exquisite,  I  would,  at  the  same  time,  earnestly  request 
every  trifler,  in  society,  to  inquire  if  he  is  aware  that, 
by  his  flat  and  trivial  conversation,  he  is  driving  every 
sensible  man  from  the  circle  in  which  he  moves.  But 
the  man  of  sense  ought  not  to  withdraw.  He  must 
have  courage  to  turn  the  tide.  You  need  not  sit  si- 
lent because  the  rest  are  talking  trifles.  In  every  cir- 
cle, you  will  find,  at  least,  one  who  is  able  and  will- 
ing to  communicate  instruction.  Seek  him  out ;  ply 
him  with  interrogations,  and  be  in  earnest  to  obtain 
information  which  you  need.  In  this  way,  every  one 
will  be  able  to  learn,  if  he  chooses.  If  there  are  not 
two,  at  least,  in  the  circle l  who  are  engaged  in  profita- 
ble conversation,  it  is  your  fault,  and  you  ought  not 
to  complain  that  the  company  was  dull  or  trifling.  It 
is  to  be  lamented,  that  even  gifted  minds  and  exalted 
talents  are  frequently  of  no  other  use,  in  company, 
than  to  give  countenance  to  trifling,  when  they  might 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  201 

Great  minds.  Robert  Hall. 

and  ought  to  be  used  to  give  a  right  direction  to  the 
conversation,  and  rightly  influence  the  excited,  inter- 
ested minds  present.  There  should  be  a  bearing  to- 
wards usefulness  which  is  systematic.  The  want  of 
this  is  a  great  deficiency.  Even  Robert  Hall  failed 
here.  "Often,  indeed,  has  Mr.  Hall  lamented  this 
defect :  often,  as  we  have  been  returning  from  a  party, 
which  he  kept  alive  by  the  brilliancy  and  variety  of  his 
observations,  has  he  said,  '  Ah,  sir,  I  have  again  con- 
tributed to  the  loss  of  an  evening,  as  to  every  thing 
truly  valuable :  go  home  with  me,  that  we  may  spend, 
at  least,  one  hour  in  a  manner  which  becomes  us.'  " 
A  man  given  to  severe  study  and  thought,  is  in  pe- 
culiar danger  here ;  for,  when  he  goes  into  society,  he 
drops  all  study,  forgets  the  train  of  thought  in  which 
he  had  been  engaged,  and  at  once  has  his  spirits,  not 
elastic,  merely,  but  even,  at  times,  highly  excited. 
Then  the  temptation  is,  to  forget  that  he  ought  to  use 
his  knowledge  and  talents  to  instruct  and  enlighten 
that  circle  of  friends ;  and  that,  if  he  does  not  improve 
the  opportunity,  he  throws  all  the  weight  of  his  char- 
acter into  the  vote  to  drive  all  valuable  thoughts  and 
conversation  from  the  room.  I  do  not  mean  that 
you  are  to  strive  to  monopolize  the  conversation, 
to  shine  and  show  yourself,  and  your  attainments. 
Far  otherwise.  But  I  mean  that  you  should  not 
waste  your  time,  and  the  time  of  those  who  are  kind 
enough  to  hear  what  you  have  to  say,  in  saying  things 


TV-. 


203         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

A  common  mis.  ike.          Second  suggestion — severe  speaking. 

which  might  be  sa'd  arid  repeated  to  the  end  of  time, 
and  no  human  being  would  be  either  the  wiser  or  the 
better.  Do  nothing  which  has  the  appearance  of  su- 
periority ;  but  he  who  relies  upon  his  "  small  talk " 
to  render  him  long  useful  a:  agreeable  in  society,  has 
much  mistaken  human  nature.  It  may  be  pleasant  and 
pretty ;  but  who  would  thank  you  4o  invite  him  to  dine 
frequently  upon  custards  and  ice-creams  ?  If  you  leave 
a  company  without  being  able  to  reflect  that  you  are 
wiser,  or  have  made  somebody  else  wiser,  than  when 
you  entered  it,  there  is  something  wrong  in  the  case. 

2.  Beware  of  severe  speaking  in  company. 

No  matter  whether  the  company  be  large  or  small, 
you  may  be  sure  that  all  you  say  against  an  absent 
person  will  reach  him.  You  have  done  wrong,  and 
an  avenger  will  be  found.  I  admire  the  warning 
which  St.  Austin  is  said  to  have  had  inscribed  in  the 
centre  of  his  table  at  which  he  entertained  his  friends — 

"  Quisquis  amat  dictis  absentem  rodere  amicum, 
Hanc  mensam  indignam  noverit  esse  sibi." 

There  is  an  almost  universal  propensity  in  mankind 
to  slander  each  other,  or,  at  least,  to  throw  out  hints 
which  detract  from  the  good  opinion  which  they  sup- 
pose may  be  entertained  of  their  fellows.  The  de- 
tractor cheats  himself  most  egregiously,  but  never 
others.  He  tacitly  believes  that  he  is  pushing  this 
one,  and  thrusting  that  one,  with  the  charitable  pur- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  203 

The  ichneumon.  Detractors.          Notion  of  the  Tartars. 

pose  of  keeping  the  unworthy  out  of  the  seat  of  those 
who  merit  the  esteem  of  all.  "  I  remember  to  have 
read  in  Diodorus  Siculus  an  account  of  a  very  active 
little  animal,  which,  I  think,  he  calls  the  ichneumon, 
that  makes  it  the  whole  business  of  his  life  to  break 
the  eggs  of  the  crocodile,  which  he  is  always  in 
search  after.  This  instinct  is  the  more  remarkable, 
because  the  ichneumon  never  feeds  upon  the  eggs  he 
has  broken,  nor  any  other  way  finds  his  account  in 
them.  Were  it  not  for  the  incessant  labors  of  this 
industrious  animal,  Egypt,  says  the  historian,  would 
be  overrun  with  crocodiles ;  for  the  Egyptians  are  so 
far  from  destroying  these  pernicious  creatures,  that 
they  worship  them  as  gods." 

Do  not  those  who  may  be  denominated  detractors 
of  mankind,  congratulate  themselves  that  they  are  dis- 
interested, like  this  little  animal,  and  are  really  acting 
the  part  of  benefactors  of  mankind?  They  probably 
deceive  themselves  so  frequently ;  but  the  deception 
is  only  upon  themselves.  But  how  do  others  view 
them  ?  The  rest  of  the  world  know  that,  if  you  de- 
tract, it  is  for  the  same  reason  that  the  Tartars  are 
eager  to  kill  every  man  of  extraordinary  endowments 
and  accomplishments,  firmly  believing  that  his  talents, 
how  great  or  high  soever,  and  what  station  soever  they 
qualified  him  to  occupy,  will,  upon  his  death,  become, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  the  property  of  the  destroyer. 
Were  this  theory  correct,  it  would  be  an  apology  for 


204  THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Cruelty  of  wit  illustrated  by  the  dying  Socrates. 

those  who  indulge  in  severe  remarks  upon  the  absent ; 
for,  in  most  cases,  it  would  be  their  only  hope  of  pos- 
sessing great  excellencies  of  character.  What  you 
say  in  detraction  will  not  merely  reach  the  ear  of  the 
individual  against  whom  it  is  said,  but  it  will  prejudice 
the  circle  against  him.  We  love  to  be  prejudiced 
against  people ;  and  while  you  may  say  ten  clever 
things  of  him  which  are  forgotten,  the  two  or  three 
which  you  say  against  him,  will  be  remembered.  Nor 
is  this  all.  Such  remarks  leave  a  sting  in  your  own 
conscience.  You  cannot  thus  speak  disparagingly  of 
the  absent,  without  giving  conscience  the  right  to  call 
you  to  an  account,  and  tell  you,  in  language  which 
cannot  be  misconstrued,  you  have  done  wrong,  and 
not  as  you  would  be  done  bv. 

Aristophanes  was  the  enemy  of  Socrates :  -.-&  slander- 
ed him  and  abused  him,  and  even  wrote  a  comedy  to 
ridicule  him,  and  especially  his  notions  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  As  Socrates  was  pres- 
ent to  see  the  comedy  acted  upon  the  stage,  and  was 
not  at  all  moved,  it  was  thought  that  he  did  not  feel 
this  dastardly  treatment.  But  it  has  been  remarked, 
by  an  acute  observer,  that  he  did  feel  it  most  deep- 
ly, though  too  wise  to  show  it ;  for,  as  he  was  taking 
the  bowl  of  poison,  and  about  to  drink  it  off,  as  he  was 
entertaining  his  friends  and  strengthening  his  own 
mind  by  a  conversation  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
he  remarked,  that  he  did  not  believe  the  most  comic 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  205 

A  wise  remark.  Curious  example. 

genius  could  blame  him  for  talking  on  such  a  subject 
at  such  an  hour.  He  probably  had  his  detractor, 
Aristophanes,  in  his  mind,  on  making  this  remark. 

"  He  that  indulges  himself  in  ridiculing  the  little 
imperfections  and  weaknesses  of  his  friend,  will,  in 
time,  find  mankind  united  against  him.  The  man  who 
sees  another  ridiculed  before  him,  though  he  may,  for 
the  present,  concur  in  the  general  laugh,  yet,  in  a  cool 
hour,  will  consider  the  same  trick  might  be  played 
against  himself;  but,  when  there  is  no  sense  of  this 
danger,  the  natural  pride  of  human  nature  rises  against 
him,  who,  by  general  censure,  lays  claim  to  general 
superiority."  Unless  you  have  had  your  attention 
particularly  called  to  this  subject,  you  are  probably 
not  aware  how  many  of  these  light  arrows  are  shot 
at  those  who  are  absent. 

An  honest  fellow  was  introduced  into  the  most 
fashionable  circle  of  a  country  village ;  and  though  he 
was  neither  learned  nor  brilliant,  yet  he  passed  off 
very  well.  But  he  had  one  incorrigible  fault :  he 
always  staid  so  as  to  be  the  last  person  who  left  the 
room.  At  length,  he  was  asked,  categorically,  why  he 
always  staid  so  long.  He  replied,  with  great  good- 
nature and  simplicity,  that  "  as  soon  as  a  man  was  gone, 
they  all  began  to  talk  against  him ;  and,  consequently, 
he  thought  it  always  judicious  to  stay  till  none  were 
left  to  slander  him." 

The  habit  of  flattering  your  friends  and  acquaint- 


206  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Flattery.  Its  philosophy. 

ances  is  pernicious  to  your  own  character.  It  will  in- 
jure yourself  more  than  others.  It  is  well  understood 
among  men,  that  he  who  is  in  the  habit  of  flattering, 
expects  to  be  repaid  in  the  same  coin,  and  that,  too, 
with  compound  interest.  This  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  bestowing  that  encouragement  upon  your 
friend  in  private  which  he  needs  for  the  purpose  of  call- 
ing forth  praiseworthy  efforts.  Flattery  is  usually  be- 
stowed in  public — probably  for  the  purpose  of  having 
witnesses,  before  whom  your  friend  now  stands  com- 
mitted, to  return  what  you  are  now  advancing  to  him. 
But  judicious  encouragement  will  always  be  given  in 
private.  If  you  flatter  others,  they  will  feel  bound  to 
do  so  to  you ;  and  they  certainly  will  do  it.  They 
well  know  that  there  is  no  other  way  in  which  they  can 
cancel  the  obligations  which  you  have  imposed  upon 
them ;  because  no  compensation  but  this  will  be  satis- 
factory. Thus  you  hire  others  to  aid  you  to  become 
your  own  dupe,  and  over-estimate  your  excellencies, 
whatever  they  may  be.  For  a  very  obvious  reason, 
then,  you  will  deny  yourself  the,  luxury  of  being  flat- 
tered. And  especially  do  not  fish  for  auch  pearls. 
You  cannot  do  it,  in  a  single  instance,  without  having 
the  motive  seen  through.  You  may  have  been  aston- 
ished at  seeing  young  men  greedily  swallow  praise, 
when  they  could  not  but  know  that  he  who  was  daub- 
ing was  insincere^  It  used  to  be  a  matter  of  surprise 
to  me,  how  it  is  that  we  love  praise,  even  when  we 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


ttr.  Johnson's  keenness.  Goldsmith's  character  of  Garrick. 

know  that  we  do  not  deserve  it.  Johnson,  at  a  single 
plunge,  has  found  the  philosophy  of  the  fact.  "  To 
be  flattered,"  says  he,  "is  grateful  even  when  we 
know  that  our  praises  are  not  believed  by  those  who 
pronounce  them  ;  for  they  prove  at  least  our  power, 
and  show  that  our  favor  is  valued,  since  it  is  purchas- 
ed by  the  meanness  of  falsehood."  The  desire  of 
the  approbation  of  others,  for  their  good  opinion  alone, 
is  said  to  be  the  mark  of  a  generous  mind.  I  have 
no  doubt  it  is  so.  Against  this  desire  I  am  breathing 
no  reproach.  It  is  the  character  ascribed  to  Garrick 
by  Goldsmith,  against  which  I  am  warning  you. 

"  Of  praise  a  mere  glutton,  he  swallowed  what  came, 
And  the  puff  of  a  dunce,  he  mistook  it  for  fame  ; 
Till,  his  relish  grown  callous  almost  to  disease, 
Who  peppered  the  highest  was  surest  to  please. 
But  let  us  be  candid,  and  speak  out  our  mind  : 
If  dunces  applauded,  he  paid  them  in  kind." 

3.  Never  indulge  in  levity  upon  what  is  sacred. 

It  is  nearly  impossible  to  treat  any  sacred  subject 
with  levity,  in  a  mixed  company,  without  greatly 
Wounding  the  sensibilities  of  some  one.  It  is  no 
mark  of  strength  of  intellect,  or  of  freedom  from  pre- 
judice, or  of  any  good  quality,  to  do  it.  It  shows 
nothing  but  a  heart  that  sins  without  excitement  and 
without  temptation.  He  who  can  speak  lightly  of 
God,  his  Maker,  and  his  best  Friend,  or  of  any  thing 
that  pertains  to  him,  will  always  be  known  to  carry  a 


208  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Third  suggestion — ridicule  nothing  sacred.          The  voice  of  experience. 

heart  that  will  easily  yield  to  a  temptation  to  treat  an 
earthly  friend  in  the  same  way.  You  may  set  it  down 
as  a  rule  to  which  there  are  no  exceptions,  that  he 
who  treats  religion,  or  any  of  the  ordinances  of  his 
God,  with  lightness  and  irreverence,  carries  a  selfish 
heart,  and  is  not  fit  to  be  your  bosom  friend.  Levity 
of  manner,  or  matter,  in  regard  to  sacred  things,  will 
ruin  your  character,  or  that  of  any  other  man.  Hear 
the  testimony  of  one  who  was  "  unquestionably  one 
of  the  first  preachers — perhaps  the  very  first  preacher 
— of  his  time."  "I  set  out  with  levity  in  the  pulpit. 
It  was  above  two  years  before  I  could  get  the  victory 
over  it,  though  I  strove  under  sharp  piercings  of  con- 
science. My  plan  was  wrong.  I  had  bad  counsellors. 
I  thought  preaching  was  only  entering  the  pulpit,  and 
letting  off  a  sermon.  I  talked  with  a  wise  and  pious 
man  on  the  subject.  '  There  is  nothing,'  said  he,  '  like 
appealing  to  facts.'  We  sat  down  and  named  names. 
We  found  men  in  my  habit  disreputable.  This  first  set 
my  mind  right.  I  saw  such  a  man  might  sometimes 
succeed  ;  but  I  saw,  at  the  same  time,  that  whoever 
would  succeed  in  his  general  interpretations  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  would  have  his  ministry  that  'of  a  workman 
that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,'  must  be  a  laborious 
man.  What  can  be  produced  by  men  who  refuse 
this  labor  ? — a  few  raw  notions,  harmless,  perhaps,  in 
themselves,  but  false  as  stated  by  them." 

I  need  hardly  allude  to  the  practice  of  profane 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  209 

Profane  language.          Lord  Chesterfield.          The  profane  bishop. 

language ;  for  I  have  no  expectation  that  any  one, 
who  has  so  far  forgotten  what  self-respect  demands, — to 
say  nothing  about  higher  claims, — as  to  use  such  lan- 
guage, will  read  a  book  like  this.  Such  are  seldom 
seen  in  company  as  reputable  as  a  book  designed  to 
do  them  good.  But  still,  some  may  be  exposed  to  the 
temptation,  who  never  yet  yielded  to  it.  Lord  Ches- 
terfield, who  is  universally  quoted  as  a  master  in  the 
school  of  politeness,  declares  that  such  language  is 
never  that  of  a  gentleman.  When  you  hear  any  one 
use  profane  language,  you  will  not  wrong  him  if  you 
conclude,  that  this  is  only  one  of  a  nest  of  vipers 
which  he  carries  in  his  heart ;  and  although  this  is  the 
only  one  which  now  hisses,  yet  each,  in  his  turn,  is 
master  of  the  poor  wretch  who  is  giving  his  life-blood 
to  feed  them. 

In  France,  men  frequently  hold  both  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical offices.  An  elector,  who  was  also  an  arch- 
bishop, was  one  day  very  profane  before  a  peasant. 
Seeing  the  man  stare,  he  asked  him  at  what  he  was 
so  much  amazed. 

"  To  hear  an  arch-bishop  swear,"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  swear,"  said  the  elector,"  not  as  an  arch-bishop, 
but  as  a  prince." 

"But,  my  lord,"  said  the  peasant,  "when  the 
devil  gets  the  prince,  what  will  become  of  the  arch- 
bishop?" 

14 


210  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Beautiful  satire.    /      Fifth  suggestion — topics  of  conversation. 

"A  Persian,  humble  servant  of  the  sun, 
Who,  though  devout,  yet  bigotry  had  none, 
Hearing  a  lawyer,  grave  in  his  address, 
With  adjurations  every  word  impress, 
Supposed  the  man  a  bishop,  or,  at  least, — 
God's  name  so  much  upon  his  lips, — a  priest, 
Bowed,  at  the  close,  with  all  his  graceful  airs, 
And  begged  an  interest  in  his  frequent  prayers." 

Every  approach  to  any  thing  like  profaneness  ought, 
at  once  and  forever,  to  be  banished.  If  you  wish  to 
fit  yourself  for  the  dark  world,  it  will  be  time  enough 
to  learn  its  language  after  you  have  prepared  for  it  by 
more  decent  sins.  I  am  happy  to  say,  that  an  oath 
is  now  seldom  heard  among  people  who  lay  any 
claim  to  respectability,  and  that  I  have  not  heard  one 
for  years,  except  where  I  had  evidence  that  it  was  stim- 
ulated, and  was  borne  on  breath  tainted  and  poison- 
ed by  ardent  spirit.  Politeness  needs  not  embellish- 
ments which  belong  to  spirits  accursed;  and  truth 
and  sincerity  always  despise  and  disdain  such  auxil- 
iaries. 

4.  Be  careful  in  introducing  topics  of  conversation. 

There  are  some  people,  who  move  in  a  sphere  so 
contracted,  and  the  range  of  their  thoughts  is  in  so  nar- 
row a  circle,  that  you  can  anticipate  what  are  to  be 
the  topics  of  conversation,  what  stories  you  must  hear 
repeated,  and  where  the  circle  will  return  into  itself. 
If  you  allow  yourself  to  have  favorite  topics,  you  will 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  211 

Not  to  use  your  last  reading.  Illustrated. 

insensibly  and  surely  run  into  this  habit.  Nothing  can 
be  more  tiresome  and  unwelcome  than  such  a  talker. 
The  same  round  is  to  be  passed  over,  the  same  com- 
pliments repeated,  the  same  jests  broached.  To  avoid 
the  possibility  of  this,  some  writers  will  advise  you  to 
make  use  of  your  last  reading  in  conversation ;  and 
thus  you  will  have  topics  and  a  store  of  information  to 
communicate.  The  objections  to  making  this  a  rule, 
in  my  mind,  are  great.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be 
honest.  Your  hearer  is  led  to  suppose  that  you  are 
now  using  information  which  you  have  some  time  or 
other  acquired — that  it  is  a  part  of  your  capital,  and 
not  that  which  you  have  just  borrowed.  Is  it  fair  for 
a  scholar,  who  has  just  laid  down  the  writings  of  Aris- 
tophanes, to  come  into  company  and  talk  about  "  the 
Crown  ; "  how  keen  it  was :  how  Socrates  winced  under 
it ;  and  how  much  ground  there  was  for  the  satire  ? 
Perhaps  I  have  never  heard  of  "  the  Crown  "  before, 
nor  have  any  of  the  company.  Perhaps  he  had  not, 
two  days  since.  He  may  inform  us  of  his  discovery, 
and  amuse  and  instruct  us  with  the  information ;  but 
if  he  talks  about  it  as  if  it  were  one  among  the  thou- 
sand things  which  he  knows,  and  thus  palms  it  off 
upon  us  as  if  it  were  a  part  of  his  capital,  he  deceives 
us,  and  it  is  dishonorable  to  do  so. 

Some  will  go  out  of  their  way  to  harp  upon  topics 
which  they  suppose  particularly  agreeable  to  you,  and 
thus  flatter  you  by  talking  upon  what  they  suppose 


212  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

A  contemptible  method  of  flattery.  Illustrated. 

you  are  particularly  pleased  with ;  just  as  if  they 
were  to  invite  you  to  dine,  and  then  load  your  plate 
with  some  odd  food,  of  which  they  supposed  you  were 
peculiarly  fond,  though  they  and  the  rest  of  the 
company  loathed  it.  It  is  worse  than  insulting  you, 
because  you  have  all  the  mortification  of  the  insult, 
without  the  power  of  resenting  it.  If,  for  example,  a 
man  knows  me  to  be  a  Calvinist  in  my  religious  opin- 
ions, and  spends  his  breath,  every  time  he  meets,  me, 
in  lauding  John  Calvin — in  praising  the  Puritans — 
when  I  know  that,  in  his  heart,  he  despises  both — I  do 
not  thank  him  for  taking  all  this  pains  to  tickle  me.' 
If  he  sincerely  desires  information  on  these,  or  any 
other  subjects  with  which  he  supposes  me  to  be  ac- 
quainted, he  does  me  a  kindness  by  giving  me  the 
opportunity  to  communicate  what  I  know ;  but  if  the 
subject  be  dragged  in,  and  that  frequently,  few  things 
can  be  more  nauseous.  The  reproof  which  was  given 
to  one  who  indulged  in  this  practice  was  severe,  but 
just.  A  man  supposed  his  acquaintance  particularly 
fond  of  conversing  about  the  characters  drawn  in 
Scripture,  and  took  every  opportunity  to  bring  these 
upon  the  tapis.  "  I  affirm,"  said  he,  on  one  of  these 
occasions,  "  that  this  Samson  was  the  strongest  man 
that  ever  lived,  or  ever  will  live." 

"It  is  not  so,"  said  he  for  whose  special  gratification 
the  subject  was  introduced — "  it  is  not  so :  you  yourself 
are  a  stronger  man  than  Samson." 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  213 

Conversation  an  intellectual  feast. 

"  How  can  that  be  ?  " 

"  Why,  you  have  just  lugged  him  in,  by  head  and 
shoulders ! " 

Conversation  is  an  intellectual  feast ;  and  it  can- 
not be  enjoyed  if  each  one  must  have  a  particular  dish 
by  himself;  and  to  suppose  that  you  cannot  eat  the 
same  dish  that  the  rest  do,  is  treating  you  unnanasome- 
ly.  You  do  not  wish  to  have  a  little  table  spread  in 
the  corner  for  yourself  alone,  but  to  enjoy  the  feast  in 
common.  Remember,  then,  that  the  treatment  which 
would  be  disagreeable  to  you,  will  be  equally  unpleas- 
ant to  others  ;  and  be  careful  to  avoid  a  practice  very 
common,  but  which  always  gives  pain. 

As  a  topic  of  conversation,  you  cannot  do  better 
than  to  introduce  yourself  as  little  as  possible.  We 
are  all  in  danger  of  this ;  but,  probably,  the  danger  de- 
creases from  youth  to  old  age.  "  It  is  a  hard  and  nice 
subject  for  a  man  to  speak  of  himself,"  says  Cowley ; 
"  it  grates  upon  his  own  heart  to  say  any  thing  of  dis- 
paragement, and  the  reader's  ears,  to  hear  any  thing 
of  praise  from  him."  It  is  especially  dangerous  to 
speak  of  yourself,  if  your  circumstances  are  such  that 
you  are,  in  any  way,  tempted  to  ask  for  aid.  A  beg- 
gar will  be  relieved,  if  his  wants  are  real,  and  known. 
But  if  he  takes  pains  to  expose  his  sores,  those  who 
would  otherwise  befriend  him,  turn  away  in  disgust. 
Say  as  Httle  about  yourself,  your  friends,  your  deeds, 
as  possible ;  for  if  you  say  any  thing,  it  is  supposed  to 


214  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Speak  little  of  self. 

be  done  for  the  purpose  of  challenging  admiration  or 
pity.  A  good  writer  recommends  his  readers  not  to 
talk  about  themselves,  unless  they  are  of  some  con- 
siderable consequence  in  the  world.  But  this  rule  is 
unsafe.  For  who  is  there  that  is  not,  in  his  own 
opinion,  of  consequence  enough  to  be  the  subject  of 
conversation  ? 

If  not  exceedingly  careful,  you  will  be  in  danger  of 
repeating  old  jests  as  if  new,  and,  perhaps,  of  appropri- 
ating to  yourself,  as  your  own,  what  was  said  generations 
before  you  were  born.  You  have  heard,  or  have  read, 
the  bon  mot :  the  circumstance  of  reading  or  hearing  it 
has  escaped  your  mind,  while  the  jest  remains.  You 
repeat  it,  and  will  be  mortified,  at  some  future  time,  to 
find  in  print  what,  for  years,  you  had  supposed  your  own 
property,  honestly  acquired.  It  is  better  to  pass  for  a 
man  of  plain,  common  sense,  in  ordinary  conversation, 
than  to  attempt  to  be  brilliant  or  facetious  at  an  ex- 
pense which  you  cannot  well  bear  for  any  length  of 
time.  Few  can  deal  in  this  commodity  without  feeling 
their  need  of  borrowing ;  and  he  who  is  in  the  habit 
of  borrowing,  will  soon  cease  to  remember  that  what 
he  freely  uses,  is  not  his  own. 

While  upon  this  subject,  I  may  say  that,  if  you  are 
tempted  to  indulge  in  humor  and  wit,  you  are  beset  in 
a  weak  and  dangerous  spot.  Wit,  and  the  faculty  of 
producing  smart  sayings,  may  be  cultivated.  They 
are  so;  and  I  have  known  a  company  thrown  into 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         215 

Danger  of  being  witty. 

shouts  of  laughter  by  sallies  and  strokes  which  were 
taken  to  be  impromptu,  but  which  would  have  been 
welcomed  with  coolness,  had  it  been  known  that  they 
were  studied  and  arranged  in  private.  This  must  al- 
ways, more  or  less,  be  the  case  with  smart  sayings ; 
and  the  great  talent  displayed,  is  in  passing  them  off 
as  if  they  were  the  creations  of  the  moment.  There 
are  two  special  dangers  in  the  indulgence  of  wit :  the 
one  is,  that  it  is  impossible  to  flourish  a  tool  so  sharp 
without  wounding  others.  Strive  against  it  as  much  as 
you  please,  your  best  jokes,  and  keenest  arrows,  will 
be  spent  upon  men  and  upon  living  characters.  This 
will  cause  enmities  and  heart-burnings.  Enemies,  and 
bitter  enemies,  he  must  have,  who  tries  to  be  a  wit. 
And  when  you  hear  of  a  man  who  "  had  rather  lose  a 
friend  than  a  joke,"  you  may  be  sure  that  he  will  soon 
cease  to  be  troubled  by  the  officiousness  of  friendship. 
Every  man  knows  that  he  has  peculiarities  and  weak- 
nesses of  his  own ;  but  they  are  a  part  of  his  nature  ; 
and  he  cannot,  and  will  not,  love  a  man  who  wounds 
him  through  these.  These  weaknesses  are  ours;  and, 
though  we  may  feel  ashamed  of  them,  as  we  are  of 
our  "  poor  relations,"  yet  we  do  not  like  to  have  them 
ridiculed.  We  repel  the  man  who  feels  so  conscious 
of  superiority,  that  he  may  sport  with  the  characters 
of  others.  He  may  excite  the  laugh,  and  he  may  be 
flattered  for  a  while,  but  it  must  be  among  those 
whom  he  has  tacitly  promised  to  spare. — The  second 


216         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Example  from  Gil  Bias. 

danger  of  trying  to  be  a  wit,  is,  that  you  injure  your 
own  mind.  No  one  can  be  a  wit  without  assiduously 
cultivating  peculiar  and  odd  associations  of  ideas.  The 
thoughts  must  run  in  channels  unknown  to  common 
k.lhids.  A  strange  light  must  invest  every  thing  at 
which  you  look ;  and  the  mind  soon  becomes  habitu- 
ated to  eccentric  associations.  The  result  will  be, 
that  the  mind  ceases  to  be  a  well-balanced  instrument 
of  acquiring  or  communicating  information.  And  the 
man  who  sets  out  to  be  a  wit,  will  probably  succeed 
so  far  as  to  be  second-rate,  and  useless  for  every  thing 
besides.  The  character  of  a  witling,  as  drawn  by  the 
pen  of  Gil  Bias,  is  true  to  the  life.  "  He  is,  more- 
over, the  most  self-conceited  man  in  Spain,  though  he 
spent  the  first  sixty  years  of  his  life  in  the  grossest  ig- 
norance ;  but,  in  order  to  become  learned,  he  employ- 
ed a  preceptor,  who  has  taught  him  to  spell  in  Latin 
and  Greek.  Besides,  he  has  got  an  infinite  number 
of  good  stories  by  heart,  which  he  has  repeated  and 
vouched  so  often,  that,  at  length,  he  actually  believes 
them  to  be  true.  These  he  brings  into  conversation  ; 
and  one  may  say,  that  his  wit  shines  at  the  expense  of 
his  memory."  It  is  important,  also,  to  remember,  that 
he  who  says  a  great  many  brilliant  things,  says  a  vast 
many  that  are  weak  and  foolish ;  for  pearl-divers  always 
find  that  the  waters  which  yield  the  most  sparkling 
pearls,  yield  also  the  most  shells.  The  best  that  can 
be  hoped  for,  is,  that  the  few  witty  things  that  are 


THE   STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  217 

How  to  become  a  wit.  Avoid  pedantry. 

said,  may  be  retained  and  repeated,  while  the  worth- 
less may  be  forgotten. 

"Silva,"  said  one  of  the  archest  among  them,  "we 
shall  make  something  of  thee,  my  friend.  I  perceive 
thou  hast  a  fund  of  genius,  but  dost  not  know  how  to 
use  it  to  advantage.  The  fear  of  speaking  nonsense 
hinders  thee  from  talking  at  a  venture ;  and  yet,  by 
this  alone,  a  thousand  people  now-a-days  acquire  the 
reputation  of  wits.  If  thou  hast  a  mind  to  shine,  give 
rein  to  thy  vivacity,  and  indifferently  risk  every 
thing  that  comes  uppermost :  thy  blunders  will  pass  for 
a  noble  boldness ;  and  if,  after  having  uttered  a  thou- 
sand impertinences,  one  witticism  escapes  thee,  the 
silly  things  will  be  forgot,  the  lucky  thought  will  be 
remembered,  and  the  world  will  conceive  a  high 
opinion  of  thy  merit.  This  is  what  every  man  must 
do  who  aspires  to  the  reputation  of  a  distinguished 
wit." 

You  will  be  careful,  also,  in  conversation,  not  to 
make  any  display  of  knowledge  or  superior  learning. 
No  company  likes  to  confess  that  they  are  ignorant ; 
and  when  one  makes  a  parade  of  his  learning,  it  is  a 
silent  invitation  for  them  to  acknowledge  his  superior- 
ity, and  to  confess  that  all  the  rest  are  ignorant.  No 
invitation  could  scarcely  be  more  unpleasant.  I  once 
knew  a  student  do  his  utmost  to  be  popular  in  the  so- 
cial circle,  but  without  success.  It  was  difficult  to 
discover  the  reason ;  but  a  single  evening  explained 


218  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Quoting  Latin  and  Greek. 

the  whole.     He  quoted  Latin  and  talked  in  Greek, 
and  took  great  delight   in  tracing  things  up  to  their 
sources:  thus,  for  example,  he  took  great  pains  to 
show  the  company  that  the  term  comedy  had  some- 
what lost  its  original  meaning,  for  it  was  composed  of 
xufw],  street,  and  w&>j,  song,  meaning  a  street-song,  which 
they  used  to  act  in  a  cart  in  the  streets  of  the  city. 
This  was  all  true,  but  the  pedantry  was  insufferable. 
It  is  no  evidence  of  learning,  since  a  single  hour  spent 
over  Webster's  large  Dictionary  would  produce  learn- 
ing enough  to  torment  a  circle  the  whole  evening. 
He  who  is  really  a  scholar,  will  make  but  little  noise 
about  it.     The  half-educated  physician,  who  is  con- 
stantly afraid  that  you  will  suspect  him  of  ignorance, 
is  the  man  who  uses  the  hard  technicalities  of  the  pro- 
fession, and  turns  even  the  precise  terms  of  the  phar- 
macopoeia into  bombast.     It  is  probably  for  this  rea- 
son, also,  that  pedantry  is  so  odious.     If  you  meet  a 
man  who  spouts  Latin,  and  bores  you  with  Greek, 
you  may  generally  suppose  that  his  learning  is  about 
as  deep  as  is  the  courage  of  the  impudent  house-dog, 
who  barks  loudly  whenever  you  pass  his   master's 
house.     If  you  are  among  students  alone,  the  case  is 
altered ;  but,  in  mixed  companies,  the  cases  are  rare 
in  which  even  a  pun  or  a  jest  is  welcomed,  if  it  must 
come  in  an  unknown  tongue. 

In  all  your  conversation,  be  careful  to  maintain  pu- 
rity of  thought.     All  approaches  towards  what  is  in- 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  219 

Double  eiitendres.       Impurity  of  expression.      Proper  use  of  anecdotes. 

delicate,  will  be  at  once  discountenanced  by  all  good 
society.  Indeed,  you  can  find  none  who  are  pleased 
with  it.  The  vilest  person  is  displeased  with  double 
cntendres,  and  the  like,  in  company.  The  reason  is 
obvious.  None  love  to  have  so  much  disrespect 
shown  them  as  must  be,  when  you  take  it  for  granted 
that  they  will  be  pleased  with  such  conversation.  It 
is  a  downright  insult  to  a  man  of  pure  mind  and  pure 
morals.  And  never  have  I  known  any  thing  but  dis- 
approbation expressed,  and  felt,  on  occasions  when 
things  thus  improper  have  been  introduced,  even  by 
those  whose  hearts  were  known  to  be  impure.  Never 
allow  any  thing  to  drop  from  your  lips  which  you 
would  not  be  willing  to  have  your  sister  or  your  moth- 
er hear  you  say.  Your  recitals  of  facts,  anecdotes, 
and  all  that  you  say  for  the  purpose  of  enlightening  or 
amusing  others,  should  be  pure  in  language  and  pure 
m  thought. 

How  are  anecdotes  and  stories  to  be  used  ?  They 
are  of  great  importance  and  value,  when  properly 
used,  and  worse  than  useless  when  employed  improp- 
erly. You  have  known  men,  of  all  professions,  who 
are  forever  relating  anecdotes  and  telling  stories. 
Their  fund  seems  inexhaustible  when  you  first  become 
acquainted  with  them ;  but,  en  further  acquaintance, 
you  will  find  the  stock  really  limited,  and  that  the 
same  things  are  repeated  and  laughed  at  many  times 
every  year.  One  is  noted  as  "an  old  story-teller;" 


220  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Two  cautions. 

another  is  remarkable  for  keeping  the  company  in  good 
humor,  or  in  shouts  of  laughter,  by  the  hour  together. 
And  yet  these  individuals  are  not,  and  cannot  be, 
as  a  general  thing,  very  highly  respected.  No  one 
would  esteem  it  an  enviable  point  to  gain,  if  he 
might  gain  the  same  distinction.  And  yet  every  on,*1 
is  in  danger  of  becoming  one  of  these  "  hoary  buf- 
foons," if  he  indulges  in  stories  and  anecdotes.  At 
the  same  time,  stories  and  anecdotes  are  facts  which 
illustrate  important  principles,  and  cannot  well  be  dis- 
pensed with.  How  shall  you  avoid  Scylla,  and  not 
fall  upon  Charybdis  ?  I  answer,  You  may  and  ought 
to  use  stories  and  anecdotes.  They  are  very  impor- 
tant ;  and  you  cannot  interest,  and  instruct,  and  impress 
without  them.  You  may  make  abundant  use  of  them  ; 
I  had  almost  said,  you  cannot  make  too  much.  But 
there  are  two  important  cautions  to  be  given  here. 

1~  That  you  use  the  fact  just  as  it  occurred.  Do 
not  add,  nor  take  from  it  in  the  least,  for  the  sake  of 
embellishing  or  making  it  more  striking  and  to  the  point. 
You  belie  history,  if  you  add  or  diminish  aught.  Some 
men  cannot  repeat  a  fact  in  the  shape  of  anecdote  with- 
out having  it  so  distorted  and  discolored,  that  you 
would  hardly  know  it  to  be  the  same  thing.  The 
habit  is  bad ;  for  you  will  soon  be  unable,  if  it  be  al- 
lowed, to  state  an  interesting  fact  as  it  was. 

2.  The  second  caution  is,  do  not  tell  stories,  or  re- 
peat anecdotes,  for  their  sake,  and  to  amuse  by  them. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  221 

Cautions  illustrated. 

Their  use  is,  to  illustrate  what  you  are  talking  or 
writing  about.  When  they  are  used  otherwise  than  to 
illustrate,  they  are  out  of  their  place.  Never  com- 
mence a  conversation,  or  pen  a  paragraph,  for  the  sake 
of  the  anecdote  whiph  will  be  brought  out  by  way  of 
illustration.  A  guide-board  is  a  very  convenient  thing 
as  you  travel  a  tedious  and  difficult  road ;  but,  though 
every  road  ought  to  have  them  at  its  branches  and 
corners,  yet  what  would  you  say  of  the  man  who 
should  lay  out  and  build  a  road  for  the  sake  of  its 
guide-boards  ?  He  who  is  in  the  habit  of  investigating 
subjects  by  analogy,  will  be  very  likely  to  illustrate  them 
in  the  way  in  which  they  are  presented  to  his  own  mind. 
Let  your  comparisons,  figures,  and  illustrations,  all  be 
natural.  Were  I  to  see  a  man  building  a  house,  and, 
all  at  once,  as  he  wanted  a  stick  of  timber,  easily  and 
naturally  take  his  axe  and  go  out  into  the  woods  and 
cut  it,  and  bring  it,  and  put  it  in  its  place,  my  opinion 
of  the  man  would  be  raised ;  but  if  he  evidently  built 
the  house  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  he  could  do 
such  things,  he  would  fall,  and  that  greatly,  in  the  es- 
timation of  all. 

In  these  remarks  1  hope  I  shall  not  be  understood 
to  advise  that  you  be  in  the  habit  of  tedious  minute- 
ness in  all  your  relations  of  facts  and  anecdotes.  This 
is  intolerable.  It  is  like  trying  to  eat  some  of  our 
small  fish — slow  in  process ;  and  when  you  have  done, 
you  remember  the  bones  while  you  forget  the  meat. 


222         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Envy  to  be  avoided.          Noble  example.          Cheerfulness. 

A  man  in  haste  would  not  thus  dine,  if  he  could  well 
avoid  it. 

Keep  your  conversation  clear  of  envy ; — and  to  do 
it,  the  heart  must  be  kept  clear.  I  shall  not  stop  to 
write  a  tirade  against  this  crying  sin.  But  I  will  point 
you  to  a  noble  example.  Virgil  and  Horace  were 
contemporaries — both  poets — both  panting  after  dis- 
tinction— both  patronized  by  the  same  hand — both 
caressed  by  the  same  nation — and  both  living  and  la- 
boring for  an  immortality  on  earth ;  and  yet  they  ate 
at  the  same  table,  and,  in  all  their  race,  were  friends. 
Envy  and  jealousy  never  soured  their  dispositions, 
never  marred  their  peace.  Envy  is  one  of  the  beset- 
ting sins  of  the  student.  He  is  sensitive,  nervous,  and 
longs  for  the  approbation  of  men.  He  sees  others,  by 
some  apparently  fortuitous  circumstances,  prospered, 
caressed  and  honored,  while  he  is  forgotten  and  passed 
by.  What  is  more  natural  than  that  he  should  feel 
envy,  and  should  show  it  in  words,  in  severe,  perhaps 
unjust  remarks  ?  Guard  against  this  temptation.  En- 
vy is  a  demon  which  invariably  dances  attendance  on 
men  of  small  minds ;  and,  so  far  as  it  is  shown,  all 
understand  it  to  be  so.' 

Be  cheerful  in  all  your  conversation.  It  can  be  made 
a  habit,  and  will  always  render  you  agreeable.  We 
have  so  many  weaknesses,  so  many  crosses,  and  so  much 
that  is  down-hill  in  life,  that  we  love  to  meet  a  friend 
that  is  cheerful.  The  veriest  cripple,  and  the  sour- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  223 

Mason's  excellent  rules. 

est  of  men,  love  to  pause  and  forget  themselves,  while 
they  listen  to  the  prattle  and  the  cheerful  shouts  of 
the  group  of  children.  The  cultivation  of  cheerful 
tones,  and  a  cheerful  manner  of  conversation,  will  add 
to  your  own  comfort,  and  also  to  that  of  all  with  whom 
you  associate.  The  hares  of  the  sensitive  Cowper 
were  his  evening  companions  ;  and  he  informs  us  that 
their  cheerfulness  and  frolicsomeness  beguiled  his 
hours  of  sadness. 

The  following  are  the  rules,  much  abridged,  which 
the  judicious  Mason  gives  to  the  student,  in  regard  to 
conversation. 

1.  Choose  your  company  for  profit,  just  as  you  do 
your  books.  The  best  company  and  the  best  books 
are  those  which  are  the  most  improving  and  entertain- 
ing. If  you  can  receive  neither  improvement  nor  en- 
tertainment from  your  company,  furnish  one  or  both 
for  them.  If  you  can  neither  receive  nor  bestow  ben- 
efit, leave  that  company  at  once. 
.  2.  Study  the  character  of  your  company.  If  they 
are  your  superiors,  ask  them  questions,  and  be  an  at- 
tentive hearer  ;  if  your  inferiors,  do  them  good. 

3.  When  the  conversation  droops,  revive  it  by  in- 
troducing some  topic  so  general  that  all  can  say  some- 
thing upon  it.     Perhaps  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  stock 
your  mind,  beforehand,  with  suitable  topics. 

4.  When  any  thing  is  said  new,  valuable,  or  in- 
structive, enter  it  in  your  memorandum-book.     Keep 


224  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Rules. 

all  that  you  can  lay  your  hand  on  that  is  worth  keep- 
ing ;  but  reject  all  trash. 

5.  Never  be  a  cipher  in  company.    Try  to  please, 
and  you  will  find  something  to  say  that  will  be  accept- 
able.    It  is  ill  manners  to  be  silent.     What  is  trite, 
if  said  in  an  obliging  manner,  will  be  better  received 
than  entire  silence ;  and  a  common  remark  may  often 
lead  to  something  valuable.     Break  a  dead  silence,  at 
any  rate,  and  all  will  feel  relieved  and  grateful  to  you. 

6.  Join  in  no  hurry  and  clamor.     If  a  point  is  han- 
dled briskly,  wait  till  you  have  seen  its  different  sides, 
and  have  become  master  of  it.     Then  you  may  speak 
to  advantage.     Never  repeat  a  good  thing  in  the  same 
company  twice. 

7.  Remember  that  others  see  their  foibles  and  mis- 
takes in  a  light  different  from  what  you  do ;  therefore, 
be  careful  not  to  oppose  or  animadvert  too  freely  upon 
them  in  company. 

8.  If  the  company  slander  or  are  profane,  reprove 
it  in  words,  if  that  will  do ;  if  not,  by  silence ;  and  if 
that  fails,  withdraw. 

9.  Do  not  affect  to  shine  in  conversation,  as  if  that 
were  your  peculiar  excellency,  arid  you  were  conscious 
of  superior  ability. 

10.  Bear  with  much  that  seems  impertinent.     It 
may  not  appear  so  to  all,  and  you  may  learn  some- 
thing from  it. 

1 1 .  Be  free  and  easy,  and  try  to  make  all  the  rest 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  225 

Temper  to  be  preserved.          Disputes  improper  in  company. 

feel  so.     In  this  way,  much  valuable  thought  may  be 
drawn  out. 

To  these  I  would  add,  never  get  out  of  temper  in 
company.  If  you  are  ill  treated,  or  affronted,  that  is 
not  the  place  to  notice  it.  If  you  are  so  unfortunate 
as  to  get  into  dispute  with  a  loud,  heated  antagonist, 
keep  cool — perfectly  so.  "  It  is  cold  steel  that  cuts," 
and  you  will  soon  have  the  best  end  of  the  argument. 
The  sympathy  and  respect  of  the  circle  will  always 
move  towards  him  who  is  cool  under  provocation. 
"  If  a  man  has  a  quarrelsome  temper,  let  him  alone. 
The  world  will  soon  find  him  employment.  He  will 
soon  meet  with  some  one  stronger  than  himself,  who 
will  repay  him  better  than  you  can.  A  man  may  fight 
duels,  all  his  life,  if  he  is  disposed  to  quarrel."  What 
is  usually  understood  by  dispute,  i.  e.  something  in 
which  the  feelings  are  strongly  enlisted,  and  in  which 
there  is  strife  for  victory,  ought  never  to  be  admitted 
into  company.  The  game  is  too  rough.  And  discus- 
sion, when  it  approaches  that  point,  should  be  dropped 
at  once. 

I  cannot  close  this  Chapter  without  reminding  my 
reader,  that  the  power  of  communicating  our  thoughts 
and  feelings  by  conversation,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  bestowed  on  man.     It  is  a  perpetual  source 
of  comfort,  and  may  be  an  instrument  of  great  useful 
ness.     The  tongue  is  an  instrument,  also,  of  vast  mis 
chief.     It  is  our  chief  engine  for  doing  good  or  mis 
15 


226  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Responsibility  of  the  power  of  conversation.       Student's  accountability. 

chief.     The  gift  brings  a  vast  responsibility  upon  us. 
The  emotions  of  the  soul,  when  expressed  in  language, 
will  always  affect  others,  more  or  less.     If  they  are 
rightly  affected,  good  is  done ;  if  improperly,  evil  is 
the  result.     You  will  never  pass  a  day  without  hav- 
ing a  heavy  responsibility  rest  upon  you  for  the  use 
of  this  gift.    Every  word  is  heard  by  him  who  planted 
the  ear;  and,  for  every  word,  you  are  bound  over  to 
give  an  answer  at  the  great  day  of  accounts.     The 
student,  with  a  cultivated  mind,  with  a  fund  of  ready 
knowledge,  with  manners  and  habits  that  make  him 
welcome  wherever  he  goes,  with  an  influence  which 
cultivation  always  gives, — the  student  can  do  much 
for  the  good  of  man,  the  honor  of  his  God,  and  for  his 
own  future  peace,  by  the  manner  in  which  he  uses  his 
powers  of  conversation.     His  words,  his  tones,  will 
pour  delight  into  the  soul  of  friendship ;  they  will  form 
the  character  of  the  little  prattler  who  listens  to  him ; 
they  will  pave  his  way  to  high  and  glorious  scenes  of 
usefulness ; — or  they  will  fall  heavy  on  the  ear  of  affec- 
tion, and  will  roll  a  deep  night  of  sorrow  back  upon 
his  own  soul.     Remember  that  every  word  you  utter 
wings  its  way  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  is  to  affect 
the  condition  of  your  soul  forever.     Once  uttered,  it 
can  never  be  recalled ;  and  the  impression  which  it 
makes,  extends  to  the  years  beyond  the  existence  of 
earth. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

POLITENESS  AND    SUBORDINATION. 

THE  students  of  a  certain  literary  institution  were 
assembled   in  commons   at   tea,   at   the   commence- 
ment of  a  new  academical  year.     A  new  class  were 
thus,  for  the  first  time,  brought  to  eat  together.    Their 
advancement  in  life  and  in  education  was  such,  that 
each  one  ought  to.  have  been  a  gentleman.     As  they 
sat  down,  one  says  to  his  friend  at  his  right,  "  We  shall 
soon  see  who  is  who."     Presently  a  large,  brawny 
hand  came  reaching  along  up  the  table,  pushing  past 
two  or  three,  and,  seizing  the  brown  loaf,  in  a  moment 
had  peeled  it  of  all  its  crust,  and  had  again  retired 
with  its  booty  to  the  owner.     "  Hold,  there  !  "   cries 
one,  "  to  say  nothing  about'  politeness,  where  is  the 
justice  of  such  a  seizure  ? "     "  Oh  !  I  love  the  crust 
the  best."     "  Very  like  ;  and  perhaps  others  may  also 
have  the  same  taste."     Here  the  conversation  ended. 
But  that  unfortunate  coup-de-main  fixed  an  impression 
concerning  the  student  which  was  never  removed.    He 
was  at  once  marked  as  a  man  destitute  of  politeness, 
and  justly,  too.     All  believed  that  his  heart  was  more 
to  blame  than  his  hand. 
If  my  readers  have  ever  watched  at  the  door  of  the 


228  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

First  impressions.  How  a  polite  man  is  treated. 

stage-office,  as  the  load  of  wearied  passengers  came 
out,  one  by  one,  they  are  aware  that  we  almost  in- 
stinctively and  almost  invariably  judge  of  men  by  their 
first  appearance — their  address.  They  will  notice, 
too,  as  they  enter  a  stage  for  a  journey,  the  inquiring 
glance  goes  eagerly  round  the  circle,  and  at  once,  un- 
hesitatingly, and  almost  intuitively,  each  one  has  made 
up  his  mind  who  are,  and  who  are  not,  polite  men  in 
the  company.  In  any  company,  a  polile  man  will  be 
selected  as  the  one  in  whom  all  feel  that  they  have  a 
kind  of  friend  and  protector — one  who  will  neither  dis- 
regard their  rights  nor  suffer  others  to  do  so.  When 
among  strangers,  at  the  public  table,  the  politest  man 
is  selected  to  carve  and  distribute  to  the  company,  be- 
cause all  have  confidence  in  the  uprightness  and  good- 
ness of  his  heart.  And  such  a  man  always  carries, 
in  his  very  manners,  what  is  better  than  a  letter  of 
commendation.  The  letter  may  deceive,  or  it  may 
be  seen  but  by  few,  while  his  manners  will  be  seen 
by  all.  As  politeness  will  not  only  add  to  your  per- 
sonal comfort,  and  the  comfort  of  all  among  whom  you 
move,  but  will  also  greatly  add  to  your  usefulness,  I 
feel  that  no  apology  is  necessary  for  introducing  the 
subject  here.  Indeed,  I  should  feel  that  the  book  was 
very  deficient  without  it. 

Nations  and  communities  differ  as  widely  in  respect 
to  politeness  as,  perhaps,  any  one  thing.  The  French 
are  polite  to  a  proverb ;  but  we,  as  a  people,  seem  to 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         229 

National  character.  Two  curious  examples. 

be  characterized  as  being  a  very  impolite  nation.  I 
need  not  stop  to  vindicate  our  national  character,  even 
if  it  can  be  vindicated.  But  this  is  certain,  that  we 
can  lay  no  claims  to  be  considered  in  danger  of  being 
too  polite.  I  have  seen  a  gentleman  in  a  large  circle, 
in  attempting  to  sit  down,  supposing  a  chair  stood  be- 
hind him,  fall  flat  on  his  back.  The  company  all 
laughed  or  tittered  at  his  awkward  situation,  except- 
ing a  French  gentleman  present,  who  ran  to  him, 
helped  him  up,  hoped  it  had  not  hurt  him,  gave  up 
his  own  chair,  and  at  once  entered  into  a  lively  con- 
versation, to  make  him  forget  the  accident.  The 
company  all  felt  rebuked  by  the  politeness  of  the 
Frenchman;  but  1  doubt  whether,  had  the  same 
accident  recurred  the  next  evening,  they  would  not 
have  repeated  the  same  conduct.  Politeness  was 
a  habit  with  him  ;  but  with  the  rest  of  us,  it  was  not 
a  habit.  In  the  same  walk  in  a  city,  I  have  inquired 
at  an  American  store  for  a  place  which  I  wished  to 
find,  and  received  an  answer  that  was  hardly  civil,  and 
no  direction  that  was  of  any  use.  On  inquiring  at  a 
French  store,  a  few  rods  distant,  the  polite  owner 
came  out,  showed  me  the  street,  and  even  went  with 
me  till  the  house  was  in  sight.  Which  of  these  was 
the  polite  man  ? — and  at  which  shop  would  I  be  likely 
to  stop  and  make  purchases  in  future  ?  Yet  it  was  not 
this  motive  that  induced  the  man  to  be  polite.  It 
was  his  habit. 


230  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Danger  of  students.  Learned  children. 

Perhaps  no  class  of  men  are  in  greater  danger  of 
neglecting  to  cultivate  politeness,  at  the  present  day, 
than  students.  I  will  suggest  some  of  the  causes  of 
this  danger. 

The  habits  of  children  are  formed  very  differently, 
now,  from  what  they  used  to  be.  Formerly,  there 
was  a  distance — I  will  not  say  it  might  not  have  been 
too  great — between  the  parent  and  the  child.  The 
child  was  taught  to  reverence  his  parents,  and  to  feel 
that  he  must  look  up  to  them,  through  all  the  years 
of  childhood  and  youth.  A  child  was  not  then 
brought  forward  and  exhibited  as  a  prodigy  in  geome- 
try, in  languages,  or  in  oratory.  But  now,  we  have 
mathematicians  at  four  and  five,  deep  proficients  in  lan- 
guages at  seven,  orators  that  can  vie  with  Pitt  at  ten, 
and  finished  statesmen  before  the  teens.  The  result 
is,  that  these  learned  children  are  brought  forward, 
and,  like  the  hot-bed  plants,  force  themselves  into 
notice  even  before  the  spring  opens.  The  tokens  of 
respect  which  used  to  be  paid  to  age,  and  worth,  and 
parental  care,  are  all  prostrated.  The  child  is  not  to 
be  blamed ;  but  if,  when  he  becomes  a  student,  his 
manners  are  even  tolerable,  he  is  greatly  to  be  com- 
mended. It  is  not  now  thought  proper  to  enforce 
family-government  in  the  old-fashioned  way  marked 
but  by  Solomon  ;  and  thus  you  will  find  children  in 
early  life  wiser  than  their  parents  in  every  thing  where- 
in the  will  of  the  parties  comes  in  contact.  And  he 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  231 

One  danger.  Danger  to  religious  students. 

who,  from  his  childhood,  has  been  permitted  to  show  a 
want  of  respect  and  deference  to  his  parents,  will  not, 
in  manhood,  be  polite  to  the  rest  of  mankind.  If  the 
principles  of  a  polite,  deferential  behavior  be  not  plant- 
ed in  early  life,  they  will  rarely  become  a  part  of  a 
man's  character. 

Many  students,  and  the  very  best  too,  were  origi- 
nally from  humble  life,  and  unaccustomed  to  society. 
When  they  began  to  study,  they  were  secluded  from 
society,  and  confined  to  their  books;  and,  not  knowing 
the  forms  of  politeness,  nor  its  uses,  they  soon  learned 
not  merely  to  neglect,  but  to  despise  both.  They  thus 
commenced  habits  which  will  effectually  prevent  their 
ever  becoming  polite  men.  Mistaken  in  the  notion, 
that  no  one  can  Cultivate  politeness  unless  he  moves 
in  a  brilliant  circle,  they  neglect  their  daily  habits,  till 
they  are  clowns  for  life. 

Religious  young  men  are  even  still  more  exposed 
to  danger.  They  are  looked  upon  as  the  promise  and 
the  hope  of  the  church,  and  are  treated  with  the  ut- 
most kindness.  They  are  the  sons  of  the  church  of 
God,  and  all  feel  something  of  the  partiality  of  par- 
ents towards  them.  They  are  in  great  danger,  con- 
sequently, of  being  much  more  ready  to  receive  at- 
tentions than  to  bestow  them — to  receive,  or  even 
exact  deference,  than  to  bestow  it  upon  those  whose 
years  and  character  should  at  once  make  them  forget 
themselves.  There  is  an  impertinence,  a  sort  of 


232  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Effects  of  vacations  upon  the  student's  politeness. 

smirking  manner,  about  some  young  men,  which  is  en- 
dured only  because  the  kind  hope  is  indulged,  that 
experience  will  correct  the  evil,  and  some  other  hand 
will  deal  the  rough  blows  necessary  to  bring  them  to 
their  proper  places ;  just  as  the  tender  mother  spares 
her  child,  in  hopes  that  he  will  do  better  as  he  grows 
older ;  by  which  she  means,  that  she  hopes  others 
will  bestow  those  corrections  which  he  so  richly  de- 
serves, but  which  she  cannot  inflict.  I  most  sincere- 
ly wish  that  young  men  of  this  class,  who  are  thus 
exacting  the  attentions  which  old  soldiers  only  de- 
serve, could  hear  even  but  a  part  of  the  severe  re- 
marks which  are  made  upon  them  the  moment  they 
have  left  the  company.  The  evil  of  which  I  am 
speaking,  and  speaking,  too,  with  the  kindest  of  feel- 
ings, would  be  quickly  remedied. 

It  is  frequently  supposed,  that  the  vacations  of  stu- 
dents will  enable  them  to  throw  off  the  stiffness  of 
their  habits,  and  to  become  polite.  This  ought  to  be 
their  effect.  But  if  you  will  watch  the  progress  of  a 
student's  life,  you  will  find  that  there  is  danger  of 
having  a  contrary  habit  formed  by  vacations.  We 
will  suppose  you  have  studied  closely  and  faithfully 
through  the  term,  have  passed  the  customary  exami- 
nation at  its  close,  and  are  now  prepared  to  go  home. 
You  are  weary,  worn  down,  and  almost  sick.  You 
reach  home  with  a  countenance  pale,  and  eyes  sunken. 
Your  parents  find  that,  for  the  last  week  or  two,  you 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  233 

Visiting1  the  ladies. 

have  been  drooping.  Your  brothers  and  sisters  dance 
around  you  in  pure  joy.  You  are  now  to  be  a  visitor 
for  a  short  time,  are  to  be  nursed  and  revived,  and 
sent  back  in  good  health,  and  in  fine  spirits.  Every 
one  in  the  family  is  to  do  all  for  you  in  his  power, 
to  make  your  visit  pleasant  and  cheering.  The 
walks,  the  rides,  the  visits,  every  thing,  even  to  the 
diet,  is  regulated  with  a  regard  to  your  happiness. 
What  is  the  result  ?  You  are  happy,  you  are  grati- 
fied ;  and  vacation  is  delightful ;  but  I  ask  you,  are 
you  not  in  danger,  by  these  delightful  attentions,  of 
receiving  all  this  as  your  duej  and  of  expecting  it  all, 
without  feeling  a  corresponding  obligation  to  return 
kindnesses,  and  to  make  others  as  happy  ?  Are  you 
not  in  danger  of  feeling  that  these  kind  attentions  are 
something  which  are  the  right  of  the  student,  and,  con- 
sequently, of  expecting  them  from  all  men,  and  of 
feeling  disappointed  if  you  do  not  receive  them  ?  Be- 
ware of  cherishing  the  feeling,  that  you  are  not  bound 
to  bestow  attentions  and  kindnesses,  as  well  as  to 
receive  them. 

Some  depend  upon  becoming  polite  men  and  gen- 
tlemen from  the  fact,  that,  during  vacations,  they  visit 
much,  and,  especially,  that  they  then  associate  much 
with  the  ladies.  With  all  due  respect  to  their  influ- 
ence, I  must  be  allowed  to  say,  that  every  association 
of  the  student,  connected  with  their  society,  is  too  ideal 
to  do  much  towards  forming  habits  of  politeness.  It 


234         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Effects  of  radicalism  upon  politeness.         New  England  students. 

is  thought,  that  any  thing  which  intoxicates  for  a  season, 
is  pernicious  to  regular  habits  of  life.  If  the  remark 
is  ever  true,  it  probably  is  in  this  case.  ,"• 

The  radical  notions  of  the  present  day,  so  preva- 
lent in  regard  to  almost  every  subject  and  department 
of  life,  with  how  much  good  soever  they  may  be  asso- 
ciated, have  certainly  a  deadly  influence  upon  habits 
of  politeness.  He  who  believes  mind  and  matter  to 
be  of  equal  worth,  and  that  the  great  thing  necessary, 
to  recover  a  planet  which  has  wandered  from  its  orb, 
is  to  put  it  in  a  whirl,  is  not  very  likely  to  be  the  man 
who  will  acknowledge  real  worth,  and  pay  deference 
to  genuine  merit, — much  less  to  be  an  angel  in  kind- 
ness towards  equals  and  inferiors.  But  few  men  are 
radical  in  theory  ;  but  lest  they  should  be  thought  too 
far  removed  from  it,  too  many  sacrifice  their  politeness 
as  a  peace-offering  to,  this  divinity. 

Perhaps  students  in  New  England  are  in  special 
need  of  caution  in  regard  to  their  manners.  The 
very  air  we  breathe  is  republican ;  and  nothing  is  cur- 
rent among  us  but  pure  republicanism.  I  am  proud 
to  have  it  so ;  and  may  there  never  be  a  breeze,  which 
shall  pass  over  the  blue  hills  and  the  sweet  valleys  of 
New  England,  which  shall  not  give  breath  to  men  of 
these  principles.  But,  at  the  same  time,  while  we 
cultivate  iron  sinews,  high  enterprise,  and  freedom  of 
thought  and  feeling,  there  is  no  need  of  downright 
roughness  of  manners,  or  savage  tones  of  speech. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  235 

Southern  manners.  Professional  men  not  polite. 

We  justly  admire  the  easy,  graceful  politeness  of  our 
southern  brethren.  They  are  always  welcomed 
among  us,  and  make  all  happy  among  whom  they 
move.  We  may  and  ought  to  have  more  of  their 
pleasing  manners,  without  sacrificing  any  thing  of  the 
New  England  character,  which  is  truly  valuable. 
From  their  .infancy,  they  exceed  us,  altogether,  in 
reverence  for  their  parents,  deference  to  superiors, 
and  urbanity  towards  their  associates. 

Professional  men  are  too  frequently  destitute  of 
real  politeness,  and  in  very  many  cases  wofully  so. 
I  shall  try  to  account  for  this  shortly.  But,  lest  the 
position  should  be  doubted,  look  at  a  few  facts.  The 
good  people  of  New  York  city  are  in  the  habit  of 
opening  their  houses  every  spring,  to  receive  clergy- 
men who  may  wish  to  attend  the  anniversaries  of  the 
religious  societies.  A  few  years  since,  long  and  im- 
posing cautions  were  published  in  their  papers,  guard- 
ing the  clergymen  who  might  attend,  against  spit- 
ting on  carpets,  and  other  acts  of  impoliteness  of  a 
similar  nature.  Without  asking  whether  such  a  pub- 
lic reproof  was  altogether  delicate  or  not,  it  shows  the 
light  in  which  the  profession  is  viewed  by  a  city  pop- 
ulation. The  offices  of  lawyers  and  of  physicians 
can  seldom  boast  of  any  thing  that  looks  towards  re- 
finement, unless  it  be  the  occupant.  And  even  at 
the  capitol,  at  Washington,  it  is  said  that,  when  Con- 
gress adjourns,  they  leave  the  halls  in  a  situation  which 


236         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Illustrated.  The  philosophy  of  the  fact. 

indicates  that  almost  any  thing  has  been  there,  rather 
than  the  most  refined  gentlemen  of  whom  our  land 
can  boast.  The  manners  of  professional  men,  too,  are 
frequently  blunt,  slovenly,  and  boorish.  The  remark  is 
not  to  be  confined  to  any  one  profession.  And  why  is 
it  so  ?  Why  are  not  professional  men  among  the  most 
refined  and  polite  in  their  manners  ?  I  will  tell  you. 
Their  profession  is  their  character.  Upon  this  they  rely , 
and  upon  this  wholly.  It  is  not  that  they  despise  dress 
and  politeness,  but  because  they  do  not  give  them  their 
real  value.  An  advocate  can  manage  a  cause,  and  make 
a  plea,  so  that  the  whole  court  will  bow  to  his  learning 
and  powers.  He  relies  upon  this  character,  and  neglects 
manners,  which,  it  may  be,  are  all  that  another  man  has 
for  his  support.  That  physician,  whom  you  see  walking 
the  streets,  would  not  be  tolerated  in  refined  society,  with 
his  present  manners,  were  it  not  that  he  stands  so  high  in 
his  profession.  And  that  clergyman,  so  eccentric,  and 
so  uncouth,  even  at  table,  would  be  intolerable,  were  it 
not  that,  in  the  pulpit,  he  can  show  a  powerful,  culti- 
vated intellect,  and  a  warm  heart.  Is  not  this  just  as 
well  as  if  professional  men  were  more  particular,  and 
as  if  every  one  was  a  model  of  politeness  ?  I  reply, 
no.  Look  a  moment  at  the  philosophy  of  the  thing. 
Every  one  loves  to  gaze  upon  a  beautiful  picture,  or  a 
beautiful  statue.  You  can  gaze  for  the  hundredth 
time,  and,  at  each  look,  receive  an  emotion  of  pleasure. 
This  is  true  of  every  man,  whoever  he  may  be.  We 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


Illustrated  by  a  French  lady.  Politeness  always  receives  attentions. 

all  love  to  look  at  what  is  refined  and  beautiful ;  and, 
when  the  thoughts  recur  to  it,  we  dwell  longer  and 
more  intently  upon  what  is  graceful  and  beautiful. 
The  consequence  is,  that  a  man,  with  the  same  tal- 
ents and  attainments,  who  is  a  refined  and  a  polite  man, 
is  looked  at  and  remembered  with  vastly  more  pleas- 
ure than  his  equal,  who  is  awkward,  uncouth,  and 
impolite  in  his  manners.  The  French  lady  who  de- 
clared that  she  could  not  read  her  prayers  with  any 
comfort,  except  from  a  beautifully-printed  and  elegant- 
ly-bound Prayer-Book,  based  her  remark,  not  upon 
fancy,  but  upon  true  philosophy.  If,  then,  the  phy- 
sician would  be  remembered  with  interest,  and  have 
his  image  recalled  with  pleasure  by  his  feverish,  suf- 
fering patient,  let  him  be  a  polite,  finished  gentleman 
in  all  his  appearance  and  demeanor.  If  the  lawyer 
would  have  his  skill  and  his  eloquence  remembered, 
let  them  be  associated  with  manners  refined  and  in- 
viting, and  they  will  be  the  more  often  recalled,  as 
they  will  be  associated  so  intimately  with  his  person. 
If  the  clergyman  would  have  his  instructions  take  deep 
hold  on  the  affections  of  his  people,  and  his  visits  at 
their  houses  hailed  with  warm  greetings,  let  him  cul- 
tivate manners  that  bring  no  associations  connected 
with  his  person  which  are  not  decidedly  pleasurable. 

Some  trample  on  all  the  forms  of  politeness,  for  the 
purpose  of  challenging  and  receiving  attentions,  es- 
pecially in  public  places'.  But  they  greatly  mistake 


238  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

Consistent  with  independent  feelings.          Want  of  it  no  mark  of  genius. 

human  nature.  Who  does  not  know  that  he  receives, 
and  welcomes,  and  waits  upon  a  polite  man,  at  his  own 
house,  with  much  more  cheerfulness  and  alacrity  than 
he  does  one  who  has  an  opposite  character  ?  If  you 
would  be  waited  upon  and  receive  the  attentions  of 
others,  by  all  means  be  a  man  of  politeness  yourself. 

Some  feel  that  politeness  is  inconsistent  with  inde- 
pendent feeling.  The  reverse  is  true.  He  who  can- 
not but  half  respect  himself,  and  can  place  but  half  a 
confidence  in  himself,  is  the  man  to  be  jealous  of 
others,  and  to  demand  of  them  by  impudence  what  he 
fears  they  will  not  yield  him  without.  "  An  envious 
and  unsocial  mind,  too  proud  to  give  pleasure,  and  too 
sullen  to  receive  it,  always  endeavors  to  hide  its  ma- 
lignity from  the  world  and  from  itself,  under  the  plain- 
ness of  simple  honesty,  or  the  dignity  of  haughty  in- 
dependence." You  may  regard  the  convenience  of 
others,  and  do  all  that  politeness  requires,  and  your 
own  independence  will  be  actually  strengthened  by  it. 

Others  feel  that  it  is  the  mark  of  genius,  or  of  a 
great  mind,  to  be  slovenly  in  appearance  and  uncouth 
in  manners.  If  this  be  a  sure  index,  the  world  is  cer- 
tainly in  no  danger  of  suffering  for  the  want  of  genius 
and  talents.  A  man  may  be  great  and  influential 
in  spite  of  his  manners ;  and  so  can  the  elephant  do 
wonders  with  his  trunk.  The  most  refined  lady  can- 
not thread  her  needle  quicker  than  he  can  ;  but  would 
she  be  improved  by  exchanging  her  hands  for  his 


THE    STUDENTS   MANUAL.  239 

Clement  XIV.  Hints.  Good  humor  necessary. 

trunk?  If  genius  requires  such  manners,  the  Graces 
should  have  been  hawkers  of  fish  in  the  streets,  and 
Genius  himself  a  canal-digger. 

No  station,  rank,  or  talents,  can  ever  excuse  a  man 
for -neglecting  the  civilities  due  from  man  to  man. 
When  Clement  XIV  ascended  the  papal  chair,  the 
ambassadors  of  the  several  states  represented  at  his 
court,  waited  on  his  holiness  with  their  congratula- 
tions. As  they  were  introduced,  and  severally  bowed, 
he  also  bowed,  to  return  the  compliment.  On  this  the 
master  of  ceremonies  told  his  holiness  that  he  should 
not  have  returned  their  salute.  "  O,  I  beg  your  par- 
don," said  he;  "I  have  not  been  pope  long  enough  to 
forget  good  manners." 

The  following  hints  are  suggested  as  worthy  of  your 
consideration : — 

1 .   That  good  humor  is  essential  to  politeness. 

Perhaps  you  will  think  I  should  have  used  the  term 
good  nature.  But  that  seems  to  be  usually  confined 
to  a  negative  character.  By  good  humor  I  mean  "  the 
habit  of  being  easily  pleased."  The  poet  has  beauti- 
fully said,  that  the  art  of  love  ought,  on  Saturday,  to 
sup  at  the  house  of  the  art  of  pleasing ;  that  is,  if  I 
rightly  understand  him,  the  art  of  pleasing  comes  next 
to  that  of  loving. 

"  Au  nom  du  Pinde  et  de  Cythere 
Gentil  Bernard  est  averti, 
Q,ue  Part  d'aimer  doit  samedi 
Venir  souper  chez  1'art  de  plaire." 


240  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Kind  feelings  necessary. 

Addison  has  beautifully  illustrated  this  trait  of  char- 
acter in  his  somewhat  whimsical  description  of  his 
walk  with  his  friend  Will  Honeycomb.  It  seems  that 
Will  had  picked  up  a  pebble,  which,  on  account  of  its 
shape,  he  determined  to  present  a  friend  of  his  who 
was  gathering  such  valuable  articles.  In  the  mean 
time,  he  discovered,  by  the  looks  of  his  friend,  that  he 
wished  to  know  the  time  of  day.  Pulling  out  his 
watch,  he  "  told  me  we  had  seven  minutes,  good.  We 
took  a  turn  or  two  more,  when,  to  my  great  surprise, 
I  saw  him  squir  away  his  watch  a  considerable  way 
into  the  Thames,  and,  with  great  sedateness  in  his 
looks,  put  up  the  pebble,  he  had  before  found,  in  his 
fob.  As  I  have  naturally  an  aversion  to  much  speak- 
ing, and  do  not  Idve  to  be  the  messenger  of  ill  news, 
especially  when  it  comes  too  late  to  be  useful,  I  left 
him  to  be  convinced  of  his  mistake  in  due  time,  and 
continued  my  walk." 

I  trust  I  have  said  sufficient,  under  the  head  of  con- 
versation, to  prevent  my  being  misunderstood,  and  to 
prevent  your  mistaking  good  humor  for  any  thing  like 
buffoonery.  It  must  arise  from  kind  feelings  within;  and 
a  smile  must  be  ready  to  aid  those  feelings  in  express- 
ing themselves.  It  may  be  an  encouragement  to  know 
that  every  exercise  of  these  kind  feelings  will  surely  in- 
crease them  ;  so  that  what  is  begun  as  a  duty,  will  soon  be- 
come a  pleasure.  We  all  know  that  outward  expressions 
of  kindness  have  no  value  any  further  than  as  they  are 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL  241 

Conscience  to  be  cultivated.  Gospel  principles  lead  to  politeness. 

an  index  of  the  feelings  within  ;  but  it  is  a  kind  provision 
of  Providence,  that  even  the  outward  expression  of  kind- 
ness has  a  tendency  to  cultivate  the  feelings  of  good  will. 

2.  That  the  cultivation  of  the  conscience  will  in- 
crease your  politeness. 

The  very  spirit  of  the  gospel  is,  that  you  love  your 
neighbor  as>  yourself;  and  all  know  that  this  is  true 
politeness ;  so  that,  when  you  see  an  impolite  man 
make  great  pretensions  to  religion,  you  give  him  credit 
for  having  probably  deceived  himself.  You  may  now 
be  able  to  think  of  a  man  who  is  notorious  for  being 
wicked.  Look  at  him,  and  see  if  he  be  not  far  from 
being  a  man  of  politeness.  Look  again,  and  see  if 
his  wickedness  did  not  first  commence  at  the  point  of 
being  impolite  towards  men  ;  for  impudence  towards 
men  will  almost  invariably  lead  to  disrespect  of  God, 
so  that  he  who  begins  by  throwing  aside  kind  and 
proper  feelings  towards  his  fellows,  will  most  assured- 
ly end  in  despising  the  commands  of  his  Maker. 
The  best  way,  then,  to  become  a  man  of  politeness,  is 
to  begin  with  the  heart,  to  act  on  the  principle  of 
making  every  one  as  happy  as  in  your  power,  because 
you  would  have  all  others  do  so  to  you.  No  one 
can  act  on  this  principle,  for  any  length  of  time,  with- 
out possessing  all  the  essentials  of  politeness.  You 
should,  therefore,  never  try  to  see  how  much  of  kind- 
ness you  can  express,  but  how  much  you  can  feel. 
Every  feeling  of  deference  towards  your  Maker ;  every 
16 


242  THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Cheerfulness  essential. 

feeling  of  contrition  before  him ;  every  season  of  self- 
abasement  for  your  sins, — will  bring  you  nearer  and 
nearer  that  state  in  which  you  will  hardly  fail  of  being 
a  man  of  politeness.  If  we  were  made  for  ourselves 
alone,  and  had  no  other  aim  but  to  demand  new  in- 
dulgences from  others,  we  might  say  nothing  about 
the  heart.  But  if  you  are  to  love  your  neighbor  as 
yourself,  and  if  there  be  a  score,  a  hundred,  or  a 
thousand,  who  are  so  situated  that  they  are  your  neigh- 
bors,— then,  as  you  divide  off  the  happiness  which  you 
distribute,  you  will  seek  but  your  share ;  of  course, 
your  great  object  will  be  to  distribute  to  others. 

3.   That  cheerfulness  is  essential  to  a  polite  man. 

A  gloomy,  melancholy  man  can  never  think  of 
much  except  himself.  He  cannot  forget  so  important 
a  personage  to  attend  to  you.  He  may  have  cause 
for  all  his  bad  feelings,  sufficient  to  excuse  them  ;  but 
you  cannot  count  any  of  them  as  being  very  kindly 
towards  others.  A  sick  man,  as  he  lies  on  his  bed, 
will  hear  the  voice  of  one  man  as  he  enters  the  house, 
and  dread  to  see  him.  Why?  Because  he  knows 
that  he  has  so  long  brooded  over  himself,  that  he  has 
not  a  single  kind,  cheerful  expression  for  any  one  else. 
Another  man  enters,  and  the  very  sound  of  his  voice 
cheers  him,  and  the  smile  and  the  visit  are  a  reviving 
cordial.  He  is  a  man  of  cheerful  feelings  and  habits ; 
and,  having  these,  he  tries  to  communicate  them  to 
others.  When  you  cultivate  cheerfulness,  then,  you 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  243 

Health  essential  to  cheerfulness. 

cultivate,  at  the  same  time,  the  habit  of  politeness. 
There  is  a  keenness,  a  razor-like  irony,  about  some 
nen,  which  assumes  the  airs  of  cheerfulness,  but 
which,  in  reality,  is  only  a  genteel  way  of  snarling. 
Much  that  is  impolite,  and  really  bitter,  escapes  in 
this  way. 

For  the  purpose  of  appearing  cheerful,  you  must 
really  feel  so;  and  to  feel  cheerful,  you  must  be  in 
good  health.  No  one  can  feel  cheerful  with  a  severe 
toothache  upon  him,  or  when  turning  and  tossing 
under  a  burning  fever.  Your  health  must  be  good, 
and  kept  good  by  a  frugal  diet,  and  a  regular  course 
of  bodily  exercise.  It  is  impossible  for  the  mind  to 
be  cheerful  and  the  spirits  buoyant  without  this.  No 
man  ought  to  undertake  to  pass  himself  off  in  compa- 
ny, or  expect  to  render  himself  even  tolerably  agree- 
able, for  a  single  day,  unless  he  has  prepared  himself 
by  some  suitable  exercise.  The  cheerfulness  and 
buoyancy  of  a  hunting  party  is  proverbial :  it  is  owing 
to  the  fact  that  they  'are  all  taking  an  agreeable  exer- 
cise, without  having  an  object  before  them  of  impor- 
tance enough  to  do  any  thing  more  than  barely  excite 
them.  "  There  is  no  real  life  but  cheerful  life ;  there- 
fore valetudinarians  should  be  sworn,  before  they  en- 
ter into  company,  not  to  say  a  word  of  themselves 
until  the  meeting  breaks  up."  Never  suffer  your 
body  to  droop,  for  the  want  of  exercise,  so  as  to  sink 
below  the  power  of  wishing  to  please  and  to  be 
pleased. 


244         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Friendship  cultivates  politeness.  SUBORDINATION. 

The  cultivation  of  friendship  will  add  to  your  po- 
liteness; for,  so  far  from  rendering  the  heart  self- 
ish by  giving  warm  affections  to  a  few  choice  friends, 
it  will  become  more  generous  towards  others.  "  He 
that  has  no  one  to  love,  or  to  confide  in,  has  little  to 
hope.  He  wants  the  radical  principle  of  happiness  ; " 
and  he  who  wants  this,  will  in  vain  strive  to  be  a 
happy  man,  or  to  confer  happiness  upon  others. 

I  shall  do  great  injustice  to  my  readers  unless  I 
speak  on  the  subject  of  SUBORDINATION  with  great 
plainness.  What  need  be  said  will  not  occupy  a  long 
space,  especially  as  I  shall  pretend  to  offer  no  new 
theory  on  the  subject. 

The  mind  loves  to  be  free ;  and  so  strongly  does  it 
disdain  confinement,  and  a  relinquishment  of  its  own 
wishes,  that  it  is  not  unfrequently  unwilling  to  see  the 
necessity  for  its  doing  so. 

"  Order  is  Heaven's  first  law."  From  the  earliest 
dawn  of  reason  to  the  hour  of  death,  when  we  reluc- 
tantly take  the  last  bitter  medicine,  we  have  to 
submit  our  wills,  more  or  less,  to  the  will  of  others. 
We  cannot,  in  childhood,  see  that  the  motive  which 
induces  our  parents  to  lay  us  under  restraints,  is  a  re- 
gard to  our  future  happiness.  It  seems  to  us  to  be 
caprice,  or,  at  least,  arbitrary  dictation.  But  we  learn 
to  submit  our  wills  to  theirs  ;  and  here  is  the  founda- 
tion of  government,  and  here  commences  a  system  of 
bonds  and  obligations  which  abide  on  us  through  life. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  245 

Subordination  to  the  state-laws.  Laws  of  friendship. 

As  we  advance  in  life,  we  see  that  the  reason  of  fami- 
ly-government is  not  a  love  of  authority,  or  of  an  in- 
fliction of  punishment ;  but  it  arises  from  compassion 
to  our  ignorance,  and  a  desire  to  form  our  characters 
for  the  world  in  which  we  are  to  live  and  act. 

As  we  leave  the  paternal  roof,  the  laws  of  the  state 
reach  us,  and  throw  their  obligations  around  us.  If 
we  violate  them,  the  laws  to  which  all  have  agreed  to 
abide,  take  hold  of  us.  The  judge  is  only  the  mouth 
of  the  law,  and  the  magistrate  who  punishes  is  only 
the  hand.  But  it  is  the  law,  the  naked  law,  which 
no  one  or  two  can  alter,  which  reaches  the  highest 
and  the  lowest  in  the  community  with  entire  impartial- 
ity, that  compels  us  to  bow  our  wills  to  its  mandates. 
Without  this,  no  community  could  be  safe  or  prospered. 
Life,  character,  and  property,  would  alike  be  a  prey 
to  the  wicked,  without  this  power  and  majesty  of  law. 

If  you  step  aside  from  the  laws  of  the  land,  and 
seek  for  a  circle  of  most  valued  friends  where  the 
heart  may  revel  in  its  freedom,  you  will  find  that  even 
here  there  are  the  nicest  of  laws,  which  you  must 
obey,  or  you  are  expelled  from  that  circle,  and  your 
friends  renounce  you.  These  laws  are  not  the  enact- 
ments of  legislatures  or  senates,  but  they  are  as  well 
defined  and  settled  as  if  they  were,  and  their  infrac- 
tion will  as  surely  and  as  speedily  be  visited  with 
punishment  as  if  the  magistrate  stood  with  his  sword 


246  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Laws  of  the  street.  Illustrated. 

to  revenge  their  violation.  The  most  delicate  and 
nice  laws  must  be  obeyed,  if  you  would  have  friends. 
The  cords  are  silk,  and  the  first  thread  that  is  broken 
will  bring  retribution  upon  you. 

Even  the  loose  acquaintance  of  the  street  in  which 
you  daily  walk,  throws  its  laws  over  you,  and  you 
must  obey  them;  be  civil  in  your  appearance  and 
manners ;  return  kind  salutations  and  kind  looks ;  or 
you  lose  character  and  friends  also.  It  would  be 
easy  for  you  to  ruin  your  influence,  and  almost  your 
character,  by  a  violation  of  these  unwritten  rules.  I 
once  saw  a  student  standing  under  a  tree  at  the  cor- 
ner of  the  street,  sketching  a  building  with  his  pencil. 
Another  student  came  sauntering  along  with  his  com- 
panion, arm  in  arm.  As  they  passed  the  corner, 
one  says  to  the  other,  "  Well,  well,  something  is  now 
to  be  done  ! "  in  a  tone  which  can  be  conceived,  but 
not  expressed  on  paper.  The  poor  limner  blushed, 
crammed  his  paper  into  his  pocket,  and  walked  away ; 
but  the  sting  of  that  rudeness  will  never  entirely  leave 
his  heart.  The  form,  the  gait,  the  tones,  of  that  rude 
young  man,  will  ever  remain  vividly  before  him.  Was 
there  any  need  of  such  rudeness  ?  Were  not  the  laws 
of  good  breeding  violated? 

You  cannot  expect,  then,  to  go  to  an  academy,  a 
college,  or  to  any  other  institution,  at  which  scores 
and  hundreds  of  youth  are  educated,  without  finding 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  247 

A  book  needed. 

laws, — laws  that  are  definite,  tangible,  and  which  are 
made  to  be  obeyed,  and  which  must  be  obeyed,  or  the 
character  of  the  institution  is  gone. 

One  of  the  most  useful  books  that  could  be  written, 
would  be  a  particular  and  accurate  "  History  of  Col- 
lege Rebellions ;"  and  I  cannot  but  hope  that  some 
one — and  the  individual  could  easily  be  selected — who 
is  well  qualified,  will  undertake  it.  The  only  danger 
would  be,  that  the  work  would  be  too  voluminous. 
As  you  open  the  work,  the  chapters  would  read  some- 
thing like  the  following: — 'A  brief  history  of  the 
Great  Stomach  Rebellion ;  wherein  is  set  forth  how 
a  whole  class  refused  to  eat — how  they  assembled  and 
defied  the  faculty — their  eloquent  speeches  reported 
— how  half  the  class,  including  every  rebel,  were  ex- 
pelled from  college,  and  went  home  in  disgrace—- 
how many  of  them  became  dissipated,  and  all  of  them 
disappointed  the  hopes  of  their  parents,  and  their  own, 
and  never  accomplished  any  thing  which  endears  their 
memory  to  their  survivors,'  &c.  '  A  concise  history 
of  the  Green-pea  Rebellion,  which  arose  because  that 
when  the  steward  obtained  all  the  peas  which  he 
could,  he  did  not  obtain  more ;  and  which  resulted  in 
the  final  expulsion  of  only  sixteen  from  the  College.' 
*  An  authentic  history  of  the  Window-breaking  Re- 
bellion, wherein  is  set  forth  the  severity  of  the  faculty, 
inasmuch  as  they  would  not  commute  the  punishment 
of  one  who  broke  seven  windows  in  one  night,  though 


248  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Specimen  of  the  contents  of  the  new  book.  Four  suggestions. 

the  class  petitioned  it ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  on  receiv- 
ing the  vote  of  one  third  of  the  class,  that  they  would 
not  recite  till  said  class-mate  was  restored,  proceeded 
to  discipline  the  third.'  '  The  melancholy  history  of 
the  Gunpowder  Rebellion;  showing  the  arbitrary 
proceedings  of  the  faculty  in  punishing  ten  of  the 
most  promising  young  men  that  ever  lived,  for  the 
trifling,  inconsiderate  amusement  of  blowing  up  five 
of  the  out-buildings  with  ten  pounds  of  powder ;  with 
an  appendix,  containing  the  votes  and  speeches  of 
the  students,  together  with  their  thrilling  and  soul-har- 
rowing appeal  to  the  public.'  ''", 

These  are  but  the  mere  specimens  of  the  titles  of  the 
chapters.  The  book  should  be  faithfully  written,  and 
if  it  could  be  embellished  with  a  portrait  or  two  of  the 
greatest  sufferers,  in  each  chapter,  it  would  be  a  most 
valuable  vade  mecum  for  the  student.. 

Now,  before  you  ever  engage  in  a  rebellion,  there 
are  four  points  of  consideration  at  which  I  beg  you 
carefully  to  look  : — 

1.  That,  at  such  times,  the  faculty  are  always  act- 
ing on  right  principles,  and  the  students  always  on 
wrong. 

In  every  contest  of  the  kind,  you  will  remember 
that  you  are  to  act  against,  and  measure  strength  with 
men,  who  have  the  coolness  of  age  and  the  wisdom  of 
experience.  In  your  vacations,  or  at  any  other  time, 
you  would  be  highly  offended  at  the  suggestion  that 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  249 

The  faculty  are  ou  right  principles.         Their  character  is  good. 

your  instructors  are  not  men  of  candor,  of  judgment, 
and  of  kind  feelings.     But  you  come  back,  and,  at 
some  unexpected  turn  of  affairs,  all  on  a  sudden,  these 
men  are  so  changed  that  they  are  neither  wise  nor 
prudent,  neither  just  nor  humane.    How  came  they  to 
be  altered  so  greatly,  and  so  suddenly  ?     Is  it  so  that 
they  have  altered  ?  or  do  you  now  look  at  them  through 
the  medium  of  excited  passion  ?     You  will  remember 
that  their  age  will  not  be  likely  to  permit  your  teach- 
ers to  be  thrown  into  acts  of  indiscretion  by  passion : 
their  character,  their  reputation,  their  interests,  their 
standing  before  the  community,  all  unite  to  urge  them 
to  treat  you  fairly,  and  honorably,  and  kindly.     Even 
if  they  were  all  bad  men,  and  had  scarcely  a  particle 
of  moral  feeling  in  exercise,  every  selfish  motive  of 
the  human  heart  forbids  their  abusing  any  power  which 
they  may  have  over  you.     In  a  country  like  ours, 
where  the  very  breath  of  our  nostrils  is  the  good  opin- 
ion of  the  public,  and  where  schools  and  colleges  are 
so  numerous,  that  each  has  to  be  very  circumspect  in 
order  to  get  its  share  of  students,  the  danger  is  very 
small,  indeed,  that  the  hand  of  oppression  will  be  heavy 
upon  the  students.     I  am  not  anxious  to  press  this 
view  of  the  subject,  because  it  is  unnecessary.     Men 
cannbt  be  found,  intrusted  with  our  high  literary  insti- 
tutions, who  are  capable  of  being  on  the  wrong  side  of 
the  question,  when  a  contest  arises  between  them  and 
the  students. 


250  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Public  sentiment  always  in  favor  of  the  faculty. 

2.  The  second  suggestion  is,  that,  in  every  rebellion, 
public  sentiment  will  always  set  against  the  students. 

Multitudes  have  been  disappointed  in  this  respect, 
and  that,  too,  most  grievously.  A  great  number  get 
excited  on  some  subject, — a  subject  about  which,  indi- 
vidually, they  would  be  ashamed  to  murmur,  if  they 
had  to  do  it  alone :  they  have  meetings,  they  talk,  they 
make  most  thrilling  speeches,  and  work  the  thing  up, 
till,  in  the  medium  through  which  they  are  looking, 
iheir  sufferings  are  intolerable,  and  the  conduct  of  the 
faculty  is  atrocious.  Never  were  young  men  of 
such  character  and  promise  so  treated  before.  They 
pass  resolutions  heated  in  the  furnace  of  passion ;  they 
transmit  these  to  their  instructors,  and  then  breast 
themselves  in  their  positions,  and,  in  tones  of  defiance, 
ask,  in  all  the  spirit  of  a  command,  that  the  faculty 
meet  their  wishes.  The  faculty  have  seen  such 
storms  before  :  secure  in  their  own  upright  designs — 
secure  in  the  confidence  of  the  whole  community — they 
coolly  tell  their  threatening  pupils,  that  they  are  the 
party  to  yield,  to  submit  to  law,  to  acknowledge  wrong, 
and  promise  to  do  better.  But  they  will  not  yield, — 
not  they.  They  will  strike  a  blow  which  will  shake 
the  institution  to  its  very  foundations.  They  will  leave, 
and  appeal  to  the  public.  To  the  public  they  appeal, 
in  tones  loud  and  high-wrought.  The  good  public 
hears  them ;  and,  here  and  there,  a  very  radical  news- 
paper utters  a  faint  echo  of  sympathy ;  but,  for  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  251 

The  student  misses  his  aim  in  rebelling. 

most  part,  at  least  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hun- 
dred, the  good  public  laughs  at  the  appeal,  despises 
the  threatenings,  mocks  at  the  idea  that  these  misguid- 
ed youth  are  not  lost  to  any  useful  purpose,  turns  and 
applauds  the  firmness  of  the  institution,  and  gathers 
round  it  with  new  confidence.  Others  now  rush  to 
fill  their  places,  rejoicing  to  put  themselves  under  men 
who  have  laws  and  regulations,  and  who  will,  at  any 
rate,  see  that  these  laws  are  respected  and  obeyed. 

3.  The  third  suggestion  is,  that,  in  these  cases,  the 
students  always  miss  their  aim. 

The  aim  of  every  rebellion  is,  to  free  the  students 
from  the  exercise  of  severe,  arbitrary  power.  But, 
so  far  from  doing  this,  the  very  first  moment  you  re- 
bel, you  place  yourself  entirely  within  the  grasp  of 
that  power.  While  you  obey  the  laws,  they  are  your 
protection,  and  no  injustice  can  be  done  to  you ;  but, 
the  very  moment  that  you  violate  them,  you  lie  at  the 
mercy  of  those  who  execute  those  laws.  You  hold 
your  place  in  your  class,  and  in  the  institution,  entire- 
ly by  courtesy  ;  and,  of  all  the  situations  for  a  noble 
mind  to  be  placed  in,  this  is  the  most  humiliating.  "  A 
great  mind  disdains  to  hold  any  thing  by  courtesy,  and 
therefore,  never  usurps  what  a  lawful  claimant  may 
take  away."  Such  is  the  testimony  of  one  whom  every 
student  in  the  world  reverences.  Do  the  young  men 
think  of  this,  when  they  rush  into  a  rebellion  ?  Like 
the  poor  fly  attempting  to  free  himself  from  a  web,  into 


252  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Folly  of  rebellion  illustrated. 

which  he  voluntarily  thrusts  himself,  every  plunge,  and 
every  agony  of  passion,  only  takes  from  his  strength, 
and  places  him  more  and  more  at  the  mercy  of  his 
destroyer.  Was  a  class,  or  any  part  of  a  class,  ever 
known  to  better  themselves,  in  any  respect,  by  a  re- 
bellion ?  It  is  a  very  expensive  way  of  gaining  re- 
dress ;  and,  what  is  worse,  the  redress  is  never  gained. 
A  man,  who  has  been  considered  almost  an  oracle  to 
the  nation,  once  contrived  a  new  kind  of  saw-mill. 
It  was  to  go  by  wind.  But,  for  the  purpose  of  having 
the  wind,  he  built  it  on  the  highest  hill  in  the  region. 
There  the  wind  was  strong  and  unfailing.  The  mill 
was  built,  and  worked  to  admiration.  But  there  was 
one  capital  defect,  after  all.  The  hill  was  so  high  and 
so  steep,  that  he  could  never  get  a  log  to  Ms  mill.  It 
would  repay  for  the  great  efforts  necessary  to  get  up 
a  rebellion  in  college,  were  there  any  possible  way  of 
making  it  of  any  use,  when  once  excited.  But  this 
will  always  be  an  unanswerable  objection  to  the  whole 
system. 

4.  The  fourth  suggestion  is,  that  a  rebellion  gen- 
erally results  in  the  ruin  of  several  members  of  the 
institution. 

When  an  excitement  first  begins,  it  is  usually  among 
some  two  or  three,  who  feel  that  they  possess  popu- 
larity among  their  fellows,  and  who  are  conscious  that 
they  are  none  too  popular  with  their  instructors.  They 
raise  the  cry  of  oppression,  and,  in  order  to  lead  others 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  i!o3 

Ruinous  results  of  rebellion.  How  excilement  is  produced. 

forward,  at  once  make  two  or  three  plunges,  which, 
they  are  aware,  put  their  own  characters  beyond  recov- 
ery. Their  all  is  now  staked,  and  the  more  they  can 
draw  away  with  them,  the  better  they  will  feel ;  just  as 
highwaymen  are  said  to  feel  that  their  vocation  is  hon- 
orable in  proportion  to  the  number  of  outlaws  they  can 
muster.  Having  once  committed  themselves,  their 
song  is, 

"  Rebellion  is  my  theme  all  day ; 

I  only  wish  'twould  come 
(As  who  knows  but  perhaps  it  may?) 
A  little  nearer  home." 

The  excitement  becoming  more  general,  the  great 
body  who  fall  in  and  plunge  with  the  rest,-  do  not  stop 
to  ask  whether  they  have  a  cause  that  will  justify  them 
in  so  doing ;  nor  do  they  ask  who  are  the  leaders  in 
it,  nor  what  will  be  the  results ;  but  they  are  afraid  of 
losing  popularity  by  any  appearance  of  reluctance. 
They  cannot  stand  before  the  finger  of  contempt, 
which,  at  once,  points  at  them,  nor  endure  those  names 
and  keen  reproaches  which  are  so  intolerable  to  a  man 
of  generous  spirit,  if  in  any  measure  deserved.  Four 
fifths,  at  least,  who  are  drawn  into  a  rebellion,  do  it 
from  fear  of  losing  their  popularity  among  their  fellows. 
I  have  known  those  who  could  bluster  at  a  public 
meeting,  and  talk  of  trampling  the  "  sheep-skin,"  or 
diploma,  under  foot  with  contempt,  go  away  to  their 
rooms  and  weep  at  the  thought  that  they  were  prepar- 


254  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

A  mistaken  notion. 

ing  a  cup  of  sorrow  for  a  father,  whose  heart  was 
bound  up  in  his  son,  or  were  about  to  dash  the  hopes 
of  the  fond,  widowed  mother,  who  had  denied  herself 
all  the  luxuries,  and  many  of  the  comforts  of  life,  for 
years,  that  she  might,  educate  her  son.  And  then, 
there  is  an  affectation  of  manly  feeling,  the  show 
of  a  spirit  that  can  rise  above  the  loss  of  hopes  and 
prospects,  and  dare  to  make  its  own  destiny.  Few 
things  are  more  insupportable  to  the  young  man 
than  to  have  his  courage  challenged.  He  will  throw 
himself  headlong  into  a  rebellion  to  show  that  he 
is  a  lad  of  spirit  and  courage.  Brave  youth !  he 
need  not  pay  such  a  price  for  what  is  already  ac- 
knowledged to  be  his.  Nobody  will,  or  does,  doubt 
the  courage  of  our  young  men  at  our  seminaries.  Ed- 
ucated as  they  are,  they  have  a  courage  which  death 
could  not  destroy.  Why  should  they  commit  suicide 
to  prove  what  needs  no  proof? 

I  beseech  my  young  friends  to  consider  the  results 
of  a  rebellion.  It  may  not  injure  him  who  is  now 
reading  these  lines.  But  a  rebellion  must  and  will 
result  in  prodigious  evils.  Seldom  does  an  institution 
pass  through  such  a  scene  without  having  a  third,  a 
half,  and  not  unfrequently  the  whole,  of  a  class  expel- 
led, or  sent  away  with  such  marks  of  disgrace  and  dis- 
approbation, that  no  respectable  college  will  hereafter 
receive  them.  The  result  will  be,  that  the  rebellion  is 
purchased  by  the  ruin  of  nearly  all  those  who  are  sacri- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  255 


Two  reasons  why  a  rebellion  is  so  ruinous.          The  first  reason. 


ficed  in  the  contest.  You  may  take  the  names  of  all 
those  who  have  thus  violently  broken  away  from  col- 
lege, and  you  will  be  surprised  to  see  how  few  of  them 
ever  reach  eminence,  or  even  respectability,  in  any  pro- 
fession. It  has  always  been  so,  and  must  continue  to 
be  so.  There  are  two  reasons  why  it  must  be  so. 
First,  a  young  man  cannot  go  through  a  rebellion,  and 
be  sent  from  college,  without  receiving  such  a  shock  in 
the  process,  that  it  .will  be  next  to  impossible  to  recover 
from  it.  No  sudden  changes  can 'be  otherwise  than  in- 
jurious to  the  mind.  Scarcely  any  change  can  be  great- 
er than  takes  place  when  a  student  is,  in  a  moment, 
thrust  from  the  bosom  of  his  college  into  the  world, 
with  a  character  unformed,  and  without  the  power 
of  retrieving  his  loss.  He  may  laugh  at  his  prospects, 
talk  with  contempt  about  being  "  incapacitated  from 
admission  into  every  institution  of  our  country,  and 
writhing  beneath  the  indignation  of  a  father,  and  the 
weeping  reproaches  of  a  mother  ; "  but  when  the  die 
is  once  cast,  and  he  is  thrown  out  upon  the  world,  and 
separated  from  the  cheering  voices  of  those  who  are  in 
like  condemnation  with  himself,  he  will  find  his  heart 
is  desolate  indeed.  Home,  the  most  delightful  spot 
upon  earth,  can  bring  no  joy  to  him.  He  goes  there, 
and  meets  the  face  of  the  father  whose  goodness  he 
has  abused,  and  whose  hopes  he  has  blasted ;  of  the 
mother  whose  sorrows  and  anxieties  he  has  repaid  by 
dashing  the  fond  pride  of  one  whose  heart's  blood 


256  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Difficult  to  recover.  The  second  reason. 

would  freely  flow  for  him  ;  of  the  sisters  who  used  to 
come  around  him  as  their  guide,  and  cheer  him  on  by 
every  means  in  their  power.  All  is  disappointment 
at  home.  Does  he  leave  home  and  turn  to  his  ac- 
quaintances ?  They  despise  one  who  could  thus 
throw  away  the  highest  advantages,  and  prefer  his 
will,  at  the  expense  of  the  happiness  of  his  family,  and 
of  his  own  prospects.  His  soul  has  be«n  frenzied  al- 
most to  madness,  and  the  passions  have  been  called  up 
till  the  reason  sunk  under  them ;  and  now,  when  the  boil- 
ing waters  subside,  and  Reason  once  more  looks  abroad, 
she  sees  what  was  before  a  rich  and  beautiful  vale,  now 
desolated  and  seared  by  fire.  Of  all  who  know  him, 
he  can  receive  sympathy  from  none,  whose  sympathy 
is  not  a  disgrace.  He  is  now  in  great  danger  of  flying 
to  stimulants  to  relieve  and  drown  his  troubles,  or  of 
sinking  down  in  misanthropy  and  inactivity.  The 
shock  which  his  whole  character  and  plans  have  re- 
ceived is  inconceivably  great.  The  bankruptcy  of 
the  merchant  who  falls  from  profuse  wealth  even  to 
eating  the  bread  of  charity,  will  not,  in  any  measure, 
compare  with  it.  Few  can  ever  hope  to  recover  from 
such  a  fall. 

The  second  reason  why  such  young  men  as  are  thus 
sent  from  college  can  hardly  ever  reach  respectability, 
is,  that  they  forever  deprive  themselves  of  the  very 
discipline  of  mind  which  is  absolutely  essential  to  form 
a  distinguished  character.  I  am  not  wishing  to  pass 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  257 

Discipline  of  mind  lost.          Rebelling1  a  dishonorable  business. 

a  universal  censure,  nor  to  say  that  there  may  not  be, 
here  and  there,  a  rare  instance  in  which  the  loss  has 
been  made  up,  and  the  young  man  has  been  saved. 
These,  if  the  cases  do  ever  occur,  are  exceptions. 
But  break  off  a  young  man  from  his  studies  when  he 
has  but  just  commenced  the  discipline  of  his  mind, 
shut  him  out  from  every  institution  in  the  land,  and 
let  him  feel  that  he  has  committed  an  error  which  can 
never  be  retrieved,  and  where  is  he  to  obtain  that 
mental  discipline,  and  that  thorough  education,  which 
are  essential  to  his  future  sucdess  ?     His  plans  are  all 
broken  up ;  his  associates  in  study  are  a*r  dissevered 
from  him ;  his  instructors  are  all  taken  .fro.ri  him ;  and 
his  prospect  of  ever  becoming  what  ho  once  justly 
hoped,  is  small  indeed.     You  will  never  find  a  man 
over  the  age  of  forty,  who  ever  was  engaged  in  a  col- 
lege rebellion,  or  who  ever  saw  one,  who  will  not 
•speak  of  it  in  terms  of  the  most  decided  disapprobation. 
Besides,  are  you  acting  a  generous,  manly  part? 
You  have  voluntarily  placed  yourself  under  the  laws  of 
your  college,  and  under  the  men  who  administer  those 
laws ;  you  have  promised  solemnly  to  obey  them.   And 
now,  what  shall  be  said  about  the  honor  of  a  young  man 
who  engages  in  a  rebellion,  and  talks  about  his  "  hon- 
or," while  he  is  violating  that  honor  which  he  pledged 
when  he  became  a  member  of  that  institution  ?     If 
you  feel  that  you  are  not  dealt  with  justly  and  fairly — 
that  you  are  degraded  and  abused — ask  and  receive  an 
17 


258  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

No  need  of  it. 

honorable  dismission,  and  go  to  some  other  college, 
where   you   will  be   properly  treated.     But   do   not 
plunge  yourself,  your  class-mates,  your  parents,  and 
the  whole  circle  of  friends,  into  deep  trouble  and  last- 
ing sorrow,  with  the  vain  hope  of  making  it  clear  that 
you  are  a  young  man  of  honor,  nice  feelings,  or  of 
true  courage.     No  one  doubts  that  you  possess  all 
these.     But  you  run  too  great  a  hazard,  when  you 
stake  your  character,  and  that  of  others  younger  than 
yourself,  who  will  follow  you,  upon  the  desperate  at- 
tempt of  dictating  conditions  to  a  literary  institution. 
It  is  thoughtlessness  of  the  consequences,  rather  than 
deep   depravity,   which  draws   so   many   into   these 
troubles.     If  you  are  such  a  genius  that  it  must  work 
out  of  your  fingers'  ends,  and  your  hands  cannot  keep 
out  of  mischief,  go  home,  and  .employ  those  hands  in 
some  mechanical  business.     But  do  not  stay  where 
you  are  acting  a  part  dishonorable  to  your  own  feel- 
ings, which  will,  sooner  or  later,  end  in  lasting  dis- 
grace.    Have   the   hardihood,  if  it  be   required,  to 
overlook  petty  inconveniences  and  vexations  in  your 
present  situation,  and,  while  you  are  a  student,  stand 
up  in  all  the  strength  of  an  honorable,  high-minded 

man. 

«  Os  homini  sublime  dedit 
• Coelumque  tueri." 

That  you  will  meet  with  many  things,  in  themselves 
disagreeable,  and  trying  to  your  habits  and  your  pa- 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  259 

Student's  life  one  of  trial. 

tience,  you  must  expect.  The  whole  season  of  study 
is  one  of  unpleasant  restraint  and  of  severe  discipline. 
It  will  cost  many  sacrifices  of  feeling  to  obtain  a  good 
education  ;  but,  when  once  obtained,  you  will  be  your 
own  master,  and  will  be  fit  to  govern  yourself,  and  will 
feel  amply  repaid  for  all  that  you  endure.  But  if  you 
would  respect  yourself  through  life,  be  free  from  per- 
petual mortification,  never  engage  in  a  college  re- 
bellion. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

EXERCISE.    DIET.    ECONOMY. 

So  much  has  of  late  been  written  on  the  subject  of 
exercise,  that  it  is  in  danger  of  becoming  a  stale  sub- 
ject, even  before  it  is  understood,  and  long  before  it  is 
reduced  to  systematic  practice.  It  must  be  plain  to 
my  reader,  in  the  very  outset,  that  the  whole  hopes, 
prospects,  every  thing  dear  to  the  student,  must  de- 
pend upon  his  health.  If  the  powers  of  the  body  be 
palsied  or  prostrated,  or  in  any  way  abused,  his  mind 
must  so  far  sympathize  as  to  be  unfitted  for  making 
progress  in  study.  You  may  let  the  system  run  down 
and  lose  its  tone  by  neglect,  and,  for  a  time,  the  mind 
retains  its  activity,  as  the  fires  created  by  some  kinds 
of  fuel  burn  brighter  and  brighter,  till  they  sink  away 
at  once.  '  Sometimes,  while  the  poor  house  in  which 
the  soul  resides  is  rapidly  preparing  to  fall,  the  mind 
is  even  more  active  as  decay  approaches,  and  the  fires 
of  the  soul  burn  with  a  more  beautiful  and  intense 
glow.  So  it  is  said,  that  the  ear  will  frequently  be- 
come so  exquisite,  just  before  dissolution,  that  it  can 
gather  music  from  the  room  of  death;  the  harp  is 
about  to  be  crushed  in  pieces,  but,  ere  it  breaks,  it 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  261 

Health  every  thing  to  the  student..        Why  this  necessity  is  not  felt. 

sends  forth  notes  that  are  sweet  beyond  expression, 
till  it  breathes  itself  away  into  ruins. 

In  other  employments,  if  health  fails,  it  may  be  re- 
covered, in  very  many  cases,  by  care  and  exercise. 
The  business  goes  on,  and  the  loss  of  time  and  prop- 
erty usually  do  not  suffer  at  once.  Not  so  with  him 
whose  all  depends  upon  the  constant  employment  of 
the  mind.  Three  months'  loss  of  time,  while  in  college, 
will  blast  many  fair  hopes  and  brig-ht  prospects:  it 
will  depress  you  and  perplex  you  as  a  scholar,  and, 
probably,  have  a  material  influence  upon  you  through 
the  whole  of  life.  You  may  be  poor — you  may  have 
had  but  small  advantages  heretofore ;  but  above  these, 
by  industry  and  application,  you  may  rise.  But  if 
your  health  be  gone,  you  are,  at  once,  cut  off  from 
doing  any  thing  by  way  of  study.  The  mind  cannot, 
and  will  not,  accomplish  any  thing,  unless  you  have 
good  health.  Resolve,  then,  that,  at  any  rate,  so  far 
as  it  depends  upon  yourself,  you  will  have  the  mens 
sana  in  sano  corpore. 

It  is  frequently  the  case  that  the  student,  as  the 
fields  of  knowledge  open  before  him  in  all  their  bound- 
less extent,  feeling  strong  in  the  buoyancy  and  elasti- 
city of  youth,  and  knowing  that  his  character  must  all 
depend  upon  himself,  sits  down  closely  to  his  books, 
resolved  to  stop  for  nothing,  till  his  scholarship  is  fair 
and  high.  The  first,  the  second,  and  the  third  admo- 
nitions, in  regard  to  his  health,  are  unheeded,  till,  at 


262  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Henry  Kirke  White. 

last,  he  can  study  no  longer,  and  then,  too  late,  he  dis- 
covers that  the  seeds  of  death  are  planted  in  him. 
The  more  promising  the  student,  the  higher  are  his 
aims,  and  the  stronger  are  the  aspirations  of  his  genius, 
the  greater  is  the  danger.  Multitudes  of  the  most 
promising  young  men  have,  within  the  last  few  years, 
found  an  early  grave ; — not  because  they  studied  too 
intensely,  but  because  they  paid  no  attention  to  the 
body.  The  beautiful  lament  which  was  sung  over 
the  gifted  White  ,  might  be  repeated  every  year,  and 
be  equally  applicable  to  many  who  were  of  equal 
promise,  though  their  names  are  "  unknown  to  song.  ' 

"  Oh !  what  a  noble  heart  was  here  undone, 
When  Science'  self  destroyed  her  favorite  son ! 
Yes,  she  too  much  indulged  thy  fond  pursuit ; 
She  sowed  the  seeds,  but  Death  has  reaped  the  fruit. 
'Twos  thine  own  genius  gave  the  final  blow, 
And  helped  to  plant  the  wound  that  laid  thee  low : 
So  the  struck  eagle,  stretched  upon  the  plain,    ' 
No  more  through  rolling  clouds  to  soar  again, 
Viewed  his  own  feather  on  the  fatal  dart, 
And  winged  the  shaft  that  quivered  in  his  heart 
Keen  were  his  pangs  ;  but  keener  far  to  feel, 
He  nursed  the  pinion  which  impelled  the  steel ; 
While  the  same  plumage  that  had  wanned  his  nest 
Drank  the  last  life-drop  of  his  bleeding  breast" 

It  may,  no  doubt,  be  true,  that  the  man  who  sits 
down  to  study,  and  gives  his  whole  soul  to  it,  without 
much  if  any  regard  to  health,  may,  for  a  time,  impro 


1HE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  263 

Rapid  maturity  of  the  mind  not  desirable.        A  fashion  in  this  country. 

fast,  and  mature  with  great  rapidity.  He  may  pass 
over  the  ground  fast,  and  appear  a  prodigy  of  genius. 
But  it  is  almost  certain  that  such  a  one  is  soon  to 
reach  the  limits  of  his  attainments,  and,  if  he  does  not 
speedily  find  his  grave,  will  soon  be  too  feeble  to  do 
any  thing  but  drag  out  a  discouraging  existence.  For 
one,  I  do  not  feel  that  it  is  so  very  desirable  to  mature 
the  mind  as  early  as  some  strive  to  do ;  and,  perhaps^ 
we  labor  under  a  great  mistake,  on  this  point,  in  this 
country.  Our  country  is  a  youth,  and  nothing  but 
what  is  elastic  and  youthful,  is  in  fashion.  Our  legis- 
lators, our  professional  men,  must  all  be  young  to  be 
popular.  The  stars  are  to  be  looked  at  only  while 
they  are  rising.  A  man  of  fifty  is  considered  almost 
superannuated,  with  us.  Such  is  the  fashion.  It  is 
not  so  in  other  countries.  Even  La  Fayette  would 
not  have  been  considered  fit  to  stand  at  the  head  of  a 
great  national  army,  in  times  of  revolution,  in  this  coun- 
try, after  he  was  eighty.  In  England,  the  throne  is 
usually  surrounded  by  a  galaxy  of  talent  which  is  the 
admiration  of  the  world.  Are  they  men  who  matured 
in  boyhood,  and  whose  education  was  completed  at 
twenty -five?  Far  from  it.  They  are  usually  old 
men,  whose  minds  have  been  slow  in  becoming  ma- 
ture, whose  judgment  has  been  made  sound  by  read- 
ing, by  thought,  by  observation,  and  by  years.  I 
make  these  remarks,  because  I  would  have  our  young 
men  feel  that  the  business  of  study  is  for  life ;  and 


264  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Study  endangers  the  health.  Who  is  a  hero. 

that,  instead  of  trying  to  do  all  that  can  be  done  in  a 
very  short  time,  they  should  lay  their  plans  and  make 
their  calculations  to  live  long,  and  for  many  years  be 
improving  and  ripening  for  usefulness. 

It  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  be  a  student  with- 
out endangering  the  health.  Man  was  made  to  be 
active.  The  hunter,  who  roams  through  the  forest,  or 
climbs  the  rocks  of  the  Alps,  is  the  man  who  is 
hardy,  and  in  the  most  perfect  health.  The  sailor, 
who  has  been  rocked  by  a  thousand  storms,  and  who 
labors  day  and  night,  is  a  hardy  man,  unless  dissipa- 
tion has  broken  his  constitution.  Any  man  of  active 
habits  is  likely  to  enjoy  good  health,  if  he  does  not 
too  frequently  over-exert  himself.  But  the  student's 
habits  are  all  unnatural ;  and  by  them  nature  is  con- 
tinually cramped  and  restrained.  "  Men  err  in  noth- 
ing more  than  in  the  estimate  which  they  make  of  hu- 
man labor.  The  hero  of  the  world  is  the  man  that 
makes  a  bustle, — the  man  that  makes  the  road  smoke 
under  his  chaise-and-four, — the  man  that  raises  a 
dust  about  him, — the  man  that  ravages  or  devastates 
empires !  But  what  is  the  real  labor  of  this  man,  com- 
pared with  that  of  a  silent  sufferer  ?  He  lives  on  his 
projects ;  he  encounters,  perhaps,  rough  roads,  incom- 
modious inns,  bad  food,  storms  and  perils,  weary  days 
and  sleepless  nights ; — but  what  are  these  ?  His  pro- 
ject, his  point,  the  thing  that  has  laid  hold  on  his 
heart,  glory,  a  name,  consequence,  pleasure,  wealth — 


THE  STUBENT'S  MANUAL.  265 

We  try  to  mature  too  soon. 

these  render  the  man  callous  to  the  pains  and  efforts 
of  the  body.  I  have  been  in  both  states,  and  there- 
fore understand  them ;  and  I  know  that  men  form 
this  false  estimate.  Besides,  there  is  something  in 
bustle,  and  stir,  and  activity,  that  supports  itself.  At 
one  period,  I  preached  and  read  five  times  on  a  Sun- 
day, and  rode  sixteen  miles.  But  what  did  it  cost 
me  ?  Nothing !  Yet  most  men  would  have  looked 
on,  while  I  was  rattling  from  village  to  village,  with 
all  the  dogs  barking  at  my  heels,  and  would  have  call- 
ed me  a  hero  ;  whereas,  if  they  were  to  look  at  me 
now,  they  would  call  me  an  idle,  lounging  fellow. 
'  He  gets  into  his  study — lie  walks  from  end  to  end — 
he  scribbles  on  a  scrap  of  paper— he  throws  it  away, 
and  scribbles  on  another, — he  sits  down — scribbles 
again — walks  about ! '  The  man  cannot  see  that  here 
is  an  exhaustion  of  the  spirit  which,  at  night,  will  leave 
me  worn  to  the  extremity  of  endurance.  He  cannot 
see  the  numberless  efforts  of  mind,  which  are  crossed 
and  stifled,  and  recoil  on  the  spirits  like  the  fruitless  ef- 
forts of  a  traveller  to  get  firm  footing  among  the  ashes 
on  the  steep  sides  of  Mount  Etna." 

There  can  be  no  room  for  doubt,  in  the  mind  of  an 
attentive  observer,  that  one  cause  why  so  many  of  our 
promising  young  men  sink  into  a  premature  grave,  is, 
that  they  try  to  do  so  much  in  so  short  a  time.  By 
this  I  mean,  that  .they  feel  that  the  great  work  of  dis- 
ciplining and  stocking  the  mind  must  be  done  before 


266  THE   STUDENT'S"  MANUAL. 

Difficulties  which  prevent  exercise.  First  difficulty. 

the  age  of  twenty-five.  Whoever  embraces  this  no- 
tion must,-  at  once,  abandon  the  idea  of  ever  excelling, 
or  else  he  must  sit  down  to  his  books  with  an  inten- 
sity of  application  that  cannot  but  endanger  life. 

There  are  several  difficulties  in  the  way  of  your 
taking  regular,  vigorous  exercise. 

1 .   You  do  not  now  feel  the  necessity  of  it. 

We  take  no  medicine  till  necessity  compels  us; 
and  exercise  to  the  student  is  a  constant  medicine. 
You  are  now  young ;  you  feel  buoyant,  have  a  good 
appetite,  have  strength,  fine  health,  and  fine  spirits. 
Time  flies  on  downy  wings.  Why  should  you  teach 
yourself  to  be  a  slave  to  exercise,  and  bring  your- 
self into  habits  which  would  compel  you,  every  day, 
to  take  exercise  ?  It  seems  like  fitting  yourself  with 
a  pair  of  heavy  crutches,  when  you  have  as  good  legs 
to  walk  with  as  ever  carried  an  emperor.  Let  those 
who  are  in  danger  of  the  gout,  or  of  falling  victims  to 
disordered  stomachs,  begin  the  regimen ;  but  for  your- 
self, you  do  not  feel  your  need.  No,  nor  will  you 
feel  it,  till  you  are  probably  so  far  gone,  that  exercise 
cannot  recover  you.  On  this  point,  you  must  take 
the  testimony  of  the  multitudes  who  have  gone  over 
the  ground  on  which  you  now  stand,  and  who  under- 
stand it  all.  They  will  tell  you,  that  it  is  not  at  your 
option  whether  you  will  take  exercise  or  not ;  you 
must  take  exercise,  or  you  are  lost  to  all  your  hopes 
and  all  your  prospects. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  267 

Second  difficulty.  Third  difficulty. 

2.  You  feel  pressed  for  time,  and  therefore  cannot 
take  exercise. 

Your  hours  of  reciting  are  all  marked  out.  The 
bell  will  ring  at  the  moment,  and,  prepared  or  not,  you 
must  be  at  recitation.  You  have  such  a  pressure  of 
studies — perhaps  labor  under  some  peculiar  disadvan- 
tages— and  so  many  extra  efforts  to  make  out  of  the 
regular  study  hours,  that  you  really  cannot  find  time 
to  exercise.  Let  me  tell  you  that  you  miscalculate 
on  one  important  point.  If  you  will  try  the  plan  of 
taking  regular,  vigorous  exercise  every  day  for  a  sin- 
gle term,  you  will  find  that  you  can  perform  the  same 
duties,  and  the  same  amount  of  study,  much  easier 
than  without  the  exercise.  The  difference  will  be  as- 
tonishing to  yourself.  The  time  spent  in  thus  invig- 
orating the  system  will  be  made  up,  many  times  over, 
in  the  ease  and  comfort  with  which  your  mind  takes 
hold  of  study. 

3.  You  do  not  feel  interested  in  your  exercise,  and 
therefore  do  not  take  it. 

Many  schemes  have  been  devised,  by  which  the  stu- 
dent will  take  regular  exercise,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
be  interested  in  it.  The  manual  labor  system  has  been 
greatly  extolled.  The  gymnastic  system  was  no  less 
so.  In  the  latter,  I  have  never  had  any  confidence ; 
and,  though  I  would  not  speak  decidedly  against  the 
former,  inasmuch  as  it  may,  in  certain  cases,  do  good, 
yet  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  believe  it  will  prevail,  in 


268  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 


The  manual  labor  system.  Objections  to  it. 


our  systems  of  education,  to  any  great  extent.     The 
system  must  stand,  if  at  all,  by  appealing  to  the  self- 
ishness or  wants  of  the  student,  and  telling  him  that 
in  this  way,  he  can  earn  money.     But  this  will  not  be 
true  in  all  cases,  and  probably  not  in  a  majority  of  in- 
stances.    But  there  seems  to  me  one  great  objection 
to  it ;  and  that  is,  it  is  too  monotonous.     When  you 
lay  aside  your  books,  you  want  something  to  do  which 
will  not  merely  relax  the  mind  from  the  fatigue  of 
study,  but   which  will   also  tend   to  enliven   it,  and 
render  it  cheerful.     The  monotony  of  the  work-shop 
will  hardly  do  this.     Judging  from  experience,  I  de- 
cidedly prefer  ivaUdng  to  all  other  exercise  for  the . 
student.     Buchan  urges  it  as  the  best  possible  exer- 
cise, as  it  calls  more  muscles  into  motion  than  any 
olher  which  is   not  positively  painful.     The   advan- 
tages of  this  mode  of  exercise  are,  that  it  is  simple. 
The  apparatus  is  till  at  hand  complete.     You  need 
not  wait  for  any  importation  of  machinery.     It  is  in 
the  open  air,  so  that  the  lungs  can,  at  once,  receive 
the  pure  air  of  heaven,  and  the  eye  gaze  upon  hill 
and  dale,  upon  trees  and  flowers,  upon  objects  ani- 
mate and  inanimate.     The  very  objects  of  sight  and 
sound  cheer  and  enliven  the  mind,  and  raise  the  spir- 
its.    The  noise  of  the  hammer  or  saw,  the  walls  of 
the  shop,  and  whole  interior  of  the  work-shop,  have  a 
very  different  effect  upon  the  feelings  and  spirits.     If 
any  one  is  skeptical  on  this  point,  a  few  months'  trial 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  3C9 

Walking-  the  best  exercise  for  students.  Fourth  difficulty. 

in  the  two  places  will  remove  all  doubt.  Another 
advantage  of  walking  is,  that  you  can  have  a  friend  to 
walk  with,  and  unbend  the  mind,  and  cheer  the  spirits, 
by  pleasant  conversation.  This  is  a  point  of  great 
consequence ;  and  it  can  be  attained  only  in  walking. 
You  hear  the  same  sounds,  you  see  the  same  objects, 
you  relieve  the  way,  and  the  fatigues  of  exercise,  by 
conversation.  For  this  reason,  you>  should  calculate, 
in  most  cases,  to  have  company  in  your  walks.  Once 
try  the  method  of  walking  with  a  friend  regularly  for 
a  few  weeks,  and  you  will  be  surprised  at  the  results. 
On  those  afternoons  in  which  study  is  not  required, 
be  sure  and  take  long  walks,  and  lay  up  health  for 
days  to  come.  I  once  knew  two  students  who  invig- 
orated their  constitutions  astonishingly  by  this  simple 
process.  During  one  summer,  they  walked  over  two 
hundred  miles  in  company,  counting  no  walk  which 
was  under  five  miles.  In  a  short  time,  you  will  feel 
so  much  at  home  in  the  exercise,  that  you  will  not 
inquire  what  weather  it  is,  but,  Has  the  hour  for  walk- 
ing arrived  ? 

4.  The  habits  of  the  student  make  any  bodily  exer- 
tions fatiguing ;  and  therefore  you  neglect  exercise. 

There  is  no  need  of  going  into  die  physician's  depart- 
ment, and  assigning  the  reasons  why,  by  disuse,  the  body 
soon  comes  to  a  state  in  which  we  feel  it  a  burden  to 
make  exertions.  The  fact  is  unquestionable.  You  may 
go  to  your  books,  and  shut  yourself  up  in  your  room 


270  '  THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

How  to  meet  this  difficulty. 

for  weeks  almost  constantly,  and  the  idea  of  walk- 
ing two  or  three  miles  will  almost  fatigue  you  of  itself. 
The  muscles,  the  joints,  the  whole  house,  reluctates  at 
the  thought  of  moving.     The  limbs  will  ache  in  a  few 
moments,  and  the  will  has  not  the  power  to  enforce 
obedience.     Every  day  you  put  off  the  habit  of  exer- 
cise, the  difficulty  becomes  greater ;  so  that  he  who 
has  not  regular  times  for  taking  exercise,  will  soon 
cease  to  take  any.     Nothing  can  make  it  pleasant,  or 
even  tolerable,  but  the  constant  practice  of  it.     You 
cannot  snatch  it  here  and  there,  and  find  it  an  amuse- 
ment, as  you  can  take  up  a  newspaper  ;  for  it  will  be 
a  burden.     Many  have,  now  and  then,  taken  what 
they  call  "  a  dish  of  exercise ; "  and  when  over,  they 
felt  worse  than  when  they  took  none  :  indeed,  it  came 
near  making  them  sick ;  and  so  they  sagely  conclude 
that  exercise  does  not  agree  with  them.     Like  the 
Indian,  with  a  single  feather  under  his  head  on  the 
rock,  and  which  made  him  wonder  how  any  one  could 
sleep  on  a  whole  bed  of  feathers,  they  wonder  what 
they  do  who  exercise  daily.     Exercise  is  pleasant  or 
otherwise,  not  in  proportion  to  its  being  light  or  heavy, 
but  to  its  regularity.     The  habits  of  the  mind,  and  more 
especially  those  of  the  body,  will  forever  forbid  your 
enjoying  the  luxuries  and  the  benefits  of  it,  unless  it 
be  regular.     Keep  this  in  mind,  and  it  will  probably 
account  for  much  of  the  unwillingness  which  you  may 
now  feel  to  taking  exercise. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         271 

Exercise  must  be  regular.  Must  be  agreeable. 

Exercise,  then,  to  be  a  blessing  to  you,  must  be 
qualified  by  the  following  rules : — 
(a.)  It  must  be  regular,  and  daily. 
Nature  has  planted  hunger  within  us,  so  that  we 
shall  daily  bring  supplies,  to  meet  the  wastes  of  the 
body.  But,  without  exercise,  the  system  has  not  the 
power  to  appropriate  these  supplies,  and  reduce  them, 
so  that  they  become  nutriment.  Be  as  regular  in 
taking  exercise,  as  you  are  in  taking  your  food. 
There  can  be  no  good  excuse,  so  long  as  you  have 
feet,  which,  in  a  few  moments,  will  give  you  the  best 
of  exercise. 

(6.)  It  should  be  pleasant  and  agreeable. 
The  tread-mill  would  afford  regular  and  powerful 
exercise  ;  but  it  would  be  intolerably  irksome.  It 
might  give  you  iron  sinews,  but  the  soul  would  be 
gloomy  and  cheerless.  It  is  of  the  first  importance, 
that  you  take  pleasure  in  the  exercise.  Walking  is 
good,  but  not — if  you  must  walk  in  a  bark-mill.  Rid- 
ing is  good,  but  not — if  you  had  to  ride  a  wooden  horse, 
or  a  trip-hammer.  Be  sure  and  have  your  hour  of 
exercising  cultivate  cheerfulness.  "  Writers,  of  every 
age,  have  endeavored  to  show  that  pleasure  is  in  us, 
and  not  in  the  objects  offered  for  our  amusement.  If 
the  soul  be  happily  disposed,  every  thing  becomes  a 
subject  of  entertainment,  and  distress  will  almost  want 
a  name.  Every  occurrence  passes  in  review  like  the 
figures  of  a  procession :  some  may  be  awkward,  others 


272  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

It  should  relax  the  mind.  Cardinal  De  Retz. 

ill-dressed ;  but  none  but  a  fool  is  for  this  enraged  with 
the  master  of  the  ceremonies." 

(c.)  It  should  relax  the  mind. 

Philosophy  can  teach  us  to  be  stubborn  or  sullen 
when  misfortunes  come ;  and  religion  can  enable  us 
to  bear  them  with  resignation ;  but  to  a  man  whose 
health  and  spirits  are  good,  they  never  come  with  their 
full  power.     We  should  aim  to  keep  both  the  mind 
and  body  in  such  a  condition,  that  our  present  circum- 
stances are  pleasant,  and  the  future  are  undreaded. 
But  this  cannot  be  clone  if  the  mind  be  always  keyed 
up  like  the  strings  of  the  musical  instrument.     The 
mind  that  attains  the  habit  of  throwing  off  study  and 
anxiety,  and  relaxing  itself  at  once,  has  obtained  a 
treasure.     It  was  this  that  gave  the  famous  Cardinal 
De  Retz  his  power  over"  his  circumstances,  and  which 
could  enable  him  to  smile  at  his  destiny.     When  fall- 
en into  the  hands  of  his  deadliest  enemy,  and  confin- 
ed a  close  prisoner,  he  laughed  at  himself  and  at  his 
persecutor.     "  In  this  mansion  of  distress,  though  se- 
cluded from  his  friends,  though  denied  all  amusements, 
and  even  the  conveniences  of  life,  teased  every  hour 
by  the  impertinences  of  the  wretches  who  were  em- 
ployed to  guard  him,  he  still  retained  his  good  humor, 
laughed  at  all  their  little  spite,  and  carried  the  jest  so 
far  as  to   be  revenged,  by  writing  the  life  of  his 
jailer." 

It  should  be  increased  at  convenient  seasons. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  273 

Exercise  to  be  increased 'at  particular  times.      Professional  men.     Paul. 

My  reader  will  understand  by  this  that  I  mean,  he 
should  improve  '  his  vacations  to  recover  from  the 
fatigue  of  the  past,  and  gather  strength  and  health  for 
the  future.  At  a  very  trifling  expense,  two  young 
men  can  set  off  on  foot,  and,  while  they  are  at  entire 
leisure,  can  perform  a  long  journey,  see  a  great  variety 
of  new  objects  and  curiosities,  become  acquainted 
with  a  variety  of  character,  have  their  spirits  raised, 
the  tone  of  the  whole  system  regulated,  and  all  this 
during  each  vacation.  I  would  urge  this,  because  it 
is  naturally  impossible  for  a  student  to  live  long,  with- 
out some  such  course.  All  professional  men  must 
have  the  relaxation  of  travelling.  Lawyers  have 
more  or  less  of  it  in  attending  courts.  Physicians  are 
constantly  moving  ;  and  clergymen  must  take  a  jour- 
ney almost  every  season,  or  they  sink  into  the  grave. 
I  have  heard,  now  and  then,  a  severe  and  captious  re- 
mark on  this  point.  Must  professional  men,  and  es- 
pecially clergymen,  every  year  or  two,  take  this  ex- 
pensive  journey  ?  Farmers  and  mechanics  do  not. 
True  ;  but  they  would  be  compelled  to  do  it,  if  they 
used  their  minds,  and  that  to  the  necessary  neglect  of 
the  body.  But  did  not  Paul  preach  continually, 
labor  vastly  more  than  we  do,  and  yet  live  to  old  age, 
without  relaxation  ?  I  answer,  no.  Far  from  it.  In  the 
first  place,  he  travelled  almost  the  whole  of  the  time 
while  preaching  ;  sometimes  by  land;  and  then  again  a 
passenger  on  the  water ;  but  most  of  the  time  on  some 
18 


274         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Illustrious  men  have  labored  with  the  hands. 

journey.  His  circuit  lay  round  Jerusalem,  the  diameter 
being  about  a  thousand  miles.  In  the  second  place, 
Providence  so  ordered  it,  that  he  was,  every  now  and 
then,  taken  off  from  his  labors,  and  shut  up  in  prisons. 
Here  he  had  no  desponding  feelings,  for  his  religion 
supported  him ;  here  his  friends  visited  him ;  and 
here,  necessarily,  he  relaxed  and  rested,  long  enough 
to  recover  from  the  wearing  of  preaching,  and  yet  not 
long  enpugh  to  sicken  for  the  want  of  exercise. 

I  should  be  sorry  to  have  my  remarks  construed  as 
tending  to  discountenance  any  manual  labor  by  which 
the  student  or  the  professional  man  may  benefit  him- 
self. Many  illustrious  men  have  alternately  followed 
the  plough,  harangued  in  the  forum,  commanded 
armies,  and  bent  over  their  books.  The  patriarchs 
and  the  distinguished  son  of  Jesse  were  shepherds,  as 
were  Moses  and  some  of  the  prophets.  Paul,  though 
no  mean  scholar,  wras  a  tent-maker.  Cleanthes  was  a 
gardener's  laborer,  and  used  to  draw  water  and  spread 
it  on  his  garden  in  the  night,  that  he  might  have  time 
to  study  during  the  day.  He  was  the  successor  of 
Zeno.  .flEsop  and  Terence,  whose  names  will  live 
while  language  lives,  were  slaves.  Caesar,  as  every 
student  knows,  studied  in  the  camp,  swam  rivers  hold- 
ing his  writings  out  of  the  water  in  one  hand ;  while  his 
clothing  was  spun  and  woven  by  his  sisters.  Mahom- 
et "  made  his  own  fires,  swept  his  own  house,  milked 
his  ewes,  and  mended  his  shoes  and  pantaloons, 


THE   STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  275 

Examples.  Summary  of  the  advantages  of  exercise. 

with  his  own  sacred  hand."  Charlemagne,  great  in 
war,  and  greater  in  peace,  filled  his  palace  with  learn- 
ed men,  founded  schools  and  academies  through  his 
dominions,  and  yet  was  so  industrious  that  he  could 
frame  laws  even  to  the  selling  of  eggs.  Of  Gustavus 
Vasa  it  is  said,  "  a  better  laborer  never  struck  steel." 
It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  these  men  would  ever 
have  been  as  distinguished  for  mental  excellence,  had 
they  not  endured  all  these  fatigues  of  the  body.  If 
you  can  feel  as  cheerful  and  happy  in  the  garden,  the 
field,  or  the  work-shop,  as  you  can  while  walking  with 
a  companion,  it  is  altogether  to  be  preferred  to  walk- 
ing. But  that  regular  daily  exercise  which  is  most 
pleasant  to  you,  is  that  which,  of  all  others,  will  be 
the  most  beneficial. 

Permit  me  to  say,  in  a  word,  that  no  student  is  doing 
justice  to  himself,  to  his  friends,  or  to  the  world,  with- 
out being  in  the  habit  of  a  uniform  system  of  exer- 
cise ;  and  that  for  the  following  reasons : — 

1 .  Your  life  will  probably  be  prolonged  by  it. 

It  is  little  less  than  suicide  to  neglect  to  do  that, 
without  the  doing  of  which  you  are  almost  sure  to 
shorten  your  days.  The  Creator  has  not  so  formed 
the  body,  that  it  can  endure  to  be  confined,  without 
exercise,  while  the  mind  burns  and  wears  upon  its 
energies  and  powers  every  moment. 

2.  You  will  enjoy  more  with  than  without  exercise. 
This  remark  is  to  be  applied  only  to  those  who  ex- 


276  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Mind  strengthened  by  exercise. 

ercise  daily  ;  and  to  such  it  does  apply  with  great 
force.  Every  one  who  is  in  this  habit  will  bear  ample 
and  most  decided  testimony  to  this  point. 

3.  You  add  to  the  enjoyment  of  others. 

A  cheerful  companion  is  a  treasure ;  and  all  will 
gather  around  you  as  such,  if  you  are  faithful  to  your- 
self; for  exercise  will  make  you  cheerful,  and  cheer- 
fulness will  make  friends. 

4.  Your  mind  will  be  strengthened  by  exercise. 
Were  you  wishing  to  cultivate  a  morbid,  sickly  taste, 

which  will,  now  and  then,  breathe  out  some  beautiful 
poetical  image,  or  thought,  like  the  spirit  of  some  most 
refined  essence,  too  delicate  to  be  handled  or  used 
in  this  matter-of-fact  world,  and  too  ethereal  to  be  en- 
joyed, except  by  those  of  like  palate,  you  should  shut 
yourself  up  in  yourToOm  foiv  a  few  years,  till  your 
nerves  only  continue  to'  act,  and  the  world  floats  before 
you  as  a  dream.  J3ut  if  you  wish  for  a  mind  that 
can  fearlessly  dive  into  what  is  deep,  soar  to  what  is 
high,  grasp  and  hold  what  is  strong,  and  move  and 
act  among  minds  conscious  'of  its  strength,  firm,  re- 
solved, manly  in  its  aims  and  purposes,  be  sure  to 
be  regular  in  taking  daily  exercise. 

"We  consist  of  two  parts,  of  two  very  different 
parts  ;  the  one  inert,  passive,  utterly  incapable  of  di- 
recting itself,  barely  ministerial  to  the  other,  moved, 
animated  by  it.  When  our  body  has  its  full  health 
and  strength,  the  mind  is  so  far  assisted  thereby,  that 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  277 

Confirmation.  DIET. 

it  can  bear  a  closer  and  longer  application ;  our  ap- 
prehension is  readier ;  our  imagination  is  livelier ;  we 
can  better  enlarge  our  compass  of  thought ;  we  can 
examine  our  perceptions  more  strictly,  and  compare 
them  more  exactly  ;  by  which  means  we  are  enabled 
to  form  a  truer  judgment  oC  things ;  to  remove,  more 
effectually,  the  mistakes  into  which  .we  have  been  led 
by  a  wrong  education,  by  passion,  inattention,  custom, 
example;  to  have  a  clearer, view  of  what  is  best  for 
us,  of  what  is  most  for  our  interest,  and  thence  de- 
termine ourselves  more  readily  to  its  pursuit,  and  per- 
sist therein  with  greater  resolution  and  steadiness." 

In  regard  to  DIET,  no  class  of  men  are  more  apt  to 
go  from  one  extreme  to  another  than  students.  You 
will  see  one,  to-day,  swallowing  hot  bread  and  cold, 
meats  and  vegetables,  and  whatever  else  may  fairly 
come  in  his  way.  He  takes  more  food  into  the 
stomach  than  it  can  manage,  feels  sick,  and  takes  to  a 
rigid  system  of  dieting,  which  lasts— till  he  .gets  well. 
He  hears  of  such  a  distinguished  man  who  uses  no 
meat,  and  he  must,  from  his  success  in  study,  be  con- 
sidered right.  Another  uses  milk  only,  and  has  be- 
come a  great  man  ;  and  therefore  the  milk  diet  must  be 
the  best.  He  flies  from  one  thing  to  another,  is  capri- 
cious and  variable,  usually  for  two  good  reasons — 
First,  he  exercises  so  little,  or  so  irregularly,  that  no 
kind  of  food  can  sit  kindly  upon  his  stomach ;  and, 
secondly,  his  appetite  demands  more  in  quantity  than 


278  THE  STUDENT'S    MANUAL. 

Students  fickle  on  this  subject.        Dryden's  account  of  the  first  diseases. 

a  sedentary  man  should  eat.  Hence  the  student  has 
no  confidence  in  his  own  judgment  or  experience,  and 
thus  frequently  presents  a  ludicrous  picture  of  incon- 
stancy. He  is  really  a  dyspeptic,  and  has  a  weight 
upon  him,  which,  with  his  habits,  must  be  heavier 
and  heavier,  till  he  cannot  support  it.  "  Propter  sto- 
machum,  homo  est,  quod  est,"  is  a  maxim  which  car- 
ries too  much  of  truth  in  its  very  face  at  this  day. 
The  calls  of  appetite  are  listened  to  till  the  appetite 
becomes  morbid,  the  stomach  oppressed  for  weeks ; 
and  then  the  spirits  sink,  resolution  droops,  and  noth- 
ing can  now  give  a  start  to  the  clogged  machinery 
but  the  prescriptions  of  the  physician.  .  When  you 
have  come  regularly  under  the  influence  of  medicine, 
and  must  rely  upon  that  to  do  for  you  what  diet  and 
exercise  should  have  done  long  ago,  you  are  far  down 
the  hill. 

tf  The  first  physicians  by  debauch  were  made  ; 
Excess  began,  and  sloth  sustains  the  trade. 
By  chase  our  long-lived  fathers  earned  their  food : 
Toil  strung  the  nerves  and  purified  the  blood : 
But  we,  their  sons,  a  pampered  race  of  men, 
Are  dwindled  down  to  threescore  years  and  ten : 
Better  to  hunt  in  fields  for  health  unbought, 
Than  fee  the  doctor  for  a  nauseous  draught; 
The  wise,  for  cure,  on  exercise  depend : 
God  never  made  his  work  for  man  to  mend." 

In  this  case,  as  in  most  others,  the  cure  of  the  stu- 
dent must  consist  in  prevention.     He  can,  by  care  and 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  279 

Hints  on  diet.  Diet  must  correspond  with  exercise. 

prudence,  in  most  cases,  live  long,  enjoy  good  health, 
be  a  severe  student,  and  do  a  great  amount  of  good ; 
he  may  also,  by  carelessness,  in  a  short  time,  seal  his 
own  fate,  and  ruin  himself.  There  are  a  few  hints 
which  I  am  wishing  to  suggest  on  the  subject  of  diet, 
which  may  be  expressed  briefly. 

1 .  Your  diet  must  correspond  with  your  exercise  in, 
the  open  air. 

Many  shut  themselves  up  entirely,  in  unpleasant 
weather,  during  the  long  winter,  or  whenever  they  find 
a  pressure  of  business  within,  or  unpleasant  weather 
without ;  and  yet  they  eat  just  as  voraciously  as  if  they 
took  exercise  every  day.  To  say  that  no  attention 
is  to  be  paid  to  diet,  is  madness.  You  must  pay  at- 
tention to  it  sooner  or  later.  If  you  are  faithful  to 
take  regular,  vigorous  exercise  every  day  in  the  open 
air,  then  you  may  eat,  and  pay  less  attention  to  quan- 
tity and  quality.  But  if  you  take  but  little  exercise, 
you  may  be  sure  that  you  are  to  be  a  severe  sufferer 
if  you  dojiot  take  food  in  the  same  proportion.  I 
do  not  ask  you  to  diet,  i.  e.  to  be  as  difficult,  and 
as  changeable,  and  as  whimsical,  as  possible,  as 
if  the  great  point  were  to  see  how  much  you  can 
torment  yourself  and  others ;  but  I  do  ask  you  to  be- 
ware as  to  the  quantity  of  food  which  you  hurry  into 
the  stomach  three  times  each  day,  without  giving  it 
any  rest.  It  is  the  quantity,  rather  than  the  kinds  of 
food,  which  destroys  students  :  it  is  certainly  true,  that 


280  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Fasting.  Effects  of  our  habits. 

the  more  simple  the  food,  the  better.  If  you  are  un- 
usually hurried  this  week ;  if  it  storms  to-day,  so  that, 
in  these  periods,  you  cannot  go  out,  and  take  exercise, 
— let  your  diet  be  very  sparing,  though  the  temptation 
to  do  otherwise  will  be  very  strong.  When,  by  any 
means,  you  have  been  injured  by  your  food,  have  over- 
stepped the  proper  limits  as  to  eating,  I  have  found,  in 
such  cases,  that  the  most  perfect  way  to  recover  is  to 
abstain  entirely  from  food  for  three  or  six  meals.  By 
this  time,  the  stomach  will  be  free,  and  the  system  be 
restored.  I  took  the  hint  from  seeing  an  idiot  who 
sometimes  had  turns  of  being  unwell :  at  such  times, 
he  abstained  entirely  from  food  for  about  three  days, 
in  which  time  nature  recovered  herself,  and  he  was 
well.  This  will  frequently,  and  perhaps  generally, 
answer  instead  of  medicine,  and  is  every  way  more 
pleasant.  The  most  distinguished  physicians  have 
ever  recommended  this  course.  It  is  a  part  of  the 
Mahometan  and  pagan  systems  of  religion,  that  the 
body  should  be  recruited  by  frequent  fastings.  "  Let 
a  bull-dog  be  fed  in  his  infancy  upon  pap,  Naples'  bis- 
cuit, and  boiled  chicken  ;  let  him  be  wrapped  in  flan- 
nel at  night,  sleep  on  a  good  feather-bed,  and  ride  out 
in  a  coach  for  an  airing,  and  if  his  posterity  do  not  be- 
come short-limbed,  puny,  and  valetudinarian,  it  will  be  a 
wonder."  If  there  is  any  one  thing  in  the  history  of 
the  celebrated  Mathers  which  tends  to  account  for 
their  long  lives,  notwithstanding  their  astonishing  labors 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  231 

Dr.  Spring's  prescription.  Regularity  of  diet. 

as  students,  it  is  their  frequent  and  stated  days  of  fast- 
ing. A  man  of  property,  who  had  for  years  been 
abusing  his  stomach,  at  last  found  his  health  on  a 
rapid  decline.  Nature  could  endure  it  no  longer. 
He  went  to  consult  the  celebrated  Dr.  Spring,  of 
Watertown,  Mass.  He  stated  the  symptoms  of  his 
case  so  clearly,  that. the  learned  physician  could  not 
mistake  the  nature  of  the  disease.  "  I  can  cure  you, 
sir,"  said  he,  "if  you  will  follow  my  advice."  The 
patient  promised  most  implicitly  to  do  so.  "  Now," 
says  the  doctoV,  "  you  must  steal  a  horse."  "  What ! 
steal  a  horse  ?  "  "  Yes,— you  must  steal  a  horse. 
You  will  then  be  arrested,  convicted,  and  placed  in  a 
situation  where  your  diet  and  regimen  will  be  such, 
that  in  a  short  time  your  health  will  be  perfectly 
restored." 

2.  Bd  regular  in  your  diet. 

Nature  loves  regularity.  She  will  permit  you  to 
dine  at  any  hour  you  please,  and  will  conform  to  your 
wishes  in  almost  every  thing,  if  you  will  only  allow 
her  to  depend  upon  regularity.  Some  will  tamper 
with  themselves,  and  cultivate  a  morbid  appetite,  by 
eating  something,  if  it  be  nothing  of  more  worth  than 
a  handful  of  hot  peppermints,  between  almost  every 
meal.  And  then,  at  night,  among  the  last  things  they 
do,  they  eat  something  before  retiring  to  rest.  That 
weariness  and  faintness  which  are  the  calls  of  nature 


282  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Simplicity  in  diet.  Singular  instance  of  one  indulgence. 

for  rest  and  sleep,  are  met  by  a  new  supply  of  food. 
One  of  the  best  remarks  that  Jefferson  ever  made,  was, 
"  that  nobody  ever  repented  having  eaten  too  little." 
This  is  true  to  the  letter,  in  regard  to  eating  between 
meals.  1  do  not  wish  to  go  into  particulars :  but  the 
habit  of  closing  the  day  or  evening  by  loading  the 
stomach  with  fruit  or  food,  will,  sooner  or  later,  visit 
you  with  fearful  retribution. 

3.  Be  simple  in  your  diet. 

In  no  profession  of  life  are  men  likely  to  accom- 
plish any  great  and  good  enterprise,  who  are  in  any 
measure  slaves  to  their  palates.  Buonaparte  was  tem- 
perate and  simple  to  notoriety  during  his  wonderful 
career  as  a  general ;  and  Washington,  during  all  his 
campaigns,' was  remarkable  for  the  simplicity  of  his 
diet.  Many  times  he  was  known  to  sit  on  his  horse 
all  day,  making  his  dinner  of  bread  and  a  slice  of 
pork.  The  habits  of  the  epicure  are  the  last  which 
the  student  should  cherish.  No  one  thing  should  be 
considered  as  essential  to  your  comfort.  A  distin- 
guished lawyer  used  to  congratulate  himself  that  the 
only  luxury  in  which  he  indulged,  was  good  coffee  in 
the  morning :  to  make  it  to  his  taste,  it  amounted  to 
just  half  as  much  ground  coffee  as  he  drank  liquid. 
He  shone  brightly  while  he  lived,  but,  without  any  dis- 
ease or  sickness  upon  him,  he  sunk  into  the  grave  be- 
fore the  age  of  forty.  He  died  worn  out,  and  seemed 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  2S3 

Stimulating  drinks. 

an  old  man.  Without  wishing  to  descend  to  particular 
articles  of  food,  it  should  be  a  general  rule  to  be  as 
simple  as  possible  at  the  table. 

I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  I  need  say  a  word  on 
the  subject  of  stimulating  drinks ;  for  I  cannot  believe 
that  any  one,  who  has  self-respect  enough  to  read  a 
book  designed  for  his  improvement,  will  need  a  single 
caution  on  this  point.  Many  classes  of  men  are  more 
frequently  in  the  way  of  temptation  from  this  quarter, 
than  the  student ;  but  no  class  has  half  the  tempta- 
tion from  within.  There  is  a  depression,  and  a  sink- 
ing of  the  animal  spirits,  at  times,  which  makes  the 
desire  for  artiGcial  stimulants  almost  irrepressible. 
And  when  the  experiment  has  been  once  made,  and 
the  appetite  once  indulged,  you  are,  probably,  too 
completely  in  the  hands  of  your  enemy  to  be  saved. 
Let  it  alone :  never  suffer  a  bottle,  a  decanter,  a  wine- 
glass, to  come  into  your  room,  or  to  touch  your  lips. 
You  could  be  pointed  to  men  who,  in  their  several 
professions,  were  brilliant  while  they  lived,  and  whose 
tongues  and  pens  were  made  eloquent  by  artificial 
stimulants.  Their  suns,  almost  without  exception,  set 
in  clouds,  and  what  they  wrote  will  lie  unread,  at  least 
till  the  memory  of  the  authors  has  passed  away.  But 
if  you  could  take  the  catalogue  of  our  colleges,  and 
hear  the  history  of  those  who,  by  the  star,  are  marked 
as  having  gone  to  the  grave,  you  would  be  astonished 
at  the  number  who  were  destroyed  by  this  fatal  i»- 


2S4  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Bad  effects  upon  the  student.  ECONOMY. 

diligence.  The  student  who,  even  occasionally,  uses 
strong  drinks,  may  be  marked  as  one  who  will  soon 
cease  to  be  in  your  way  as  a  rival,  and  whose  career 
will  probably  be  marked,  hereafter,  only  with  shame 
and  degradation.  While  I  feel  that  I  almost  insult 
my  reader  by  cautioning  him  on  this  subject,  I  must 
be  permitted  to  say  that  the  danger,  to  the  student,  is 
very  great,  and  that,  owing  to  the  peculiar  excitabili- 
ty of  his  nerves,  and  the  relaxed  state  of  his  system, 
he  probably  receives  treble  the  injury,  by  stimulants, 
that  any  other  man  does. 

I  shall  close  this  chapter  with  some  remarks  upon 
ECONOMY. 

The  great  mass  of  our  students  are  any  thing  but 
wealthy.  There  are  many  who,  to  render  their 
standing  in  life  respectable,  go  through  college,  when 
they  have  no  expectation  of  relying  upon  themselves 
for  support.  Few  of  these  lay  any  claim  to  the 
character  of  students.  They  rely  upon  their  wealth 
for  character  and  influence  in  life.  Among  these 
there  are  some  who  make  fine  scholars ;  but,  though 
their  number  is  greater  than  we  should  expect,  it  is 
small.  Those  who  are  to  inherit  wealth,  as  a  class, 
will  never  feel  a  pressure  sufficient  to  make  them  se- 
vere students.  And  those  who  are  seeking  wealth, 
will  never  seek  it  in  the  way  of  study.  If  it  be  your 
object  to  become  rich,  you  can  find  a  thousand  paths 
which  will  lead  you  to  wealth,  before  that  of  study. 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  285 

Indigence  no  injury  to  a  student. 

•No  class  of  men  in  the  world,  considering  the  amount 
of  capital  expended  in  obtaining  an  education,  and  the 
amount  of  labor  in  their  professions,  are  so  poorly  paid 
as  professional  men.  It  has  been  said,  with  empha- 
sis and  truth,  "that  merely  to  obtain  wealth,  a  man 
would  be  more  likely  to  succeed,  to  begin  with  a 
wood-saw  and  axe,  than  with  an  education,  which  cost 
him  ten  years  of  hard  study,  and  all  the  money  he 
could  borrow."  A  professional  man,  in  this  country, 
by  untiring  industry  and  economy,  may  have  a  com- 
petency, in  most  cases :  but  it  will  require  the  union 
of  these  two  qualities  to  give  it.  You  will  see  the 
necessity,  then,  of  looking  at  the  subject  now,  and  of 
beginning  life  with  those  habits  .and  views  which  will 
be  safe.  It  is  certainly -true,  that  without  economy 
no  student  will  ever  be  rich  :  and,  perhaps,  it  is  equal- 
ly true,  that  with  it  very  few  will  ever  be  poor 
through  life. 

Set  it  down  as  an  axiom,  that  poverty  will  do  you 
no  injury  as  a  student.  While  multitudes  have  been 
ruined  by  wealth,  few  have  ever  been,  by  being  poor; 
for  there  is  no  pressure  so  direct,  so  constant,  and  so 
powerful,  as  that  of  poverty.  Pythagoras  long  ago 
remarked,  "  that  ability  and  necessity  dwell  near  each 
other :  "  they  usually  inhabit  the  same  building.  The 
strong,  gigantic  character  of  Johnson  was  probably  ow- 
ing, in  a  very  great  measure,  to  his  poverty.  He  used 
to  say,  that  Richard  Savage  and  himself  often  walked 


286  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Johnson  and  Savage.  Poverty  of  Savage. 

till  four  in  the  morning, — in  the  course  of  their  con- 
versation, reforming  the  world,  dethroning  princes, 
giving  laws,  &c., — till,  fatigued  with  their  legislative 
office,  they  began  to  want  refreshment,  but  could  not 
muster  more  than  four-pence-half-penny  between  them. 
If,  in  a  country  where  so  much  is  thought  to  depend  on 
hereditary  rank  and  affluence,  poverty  only  presses  a 
man  into  greatness,  it  is  no  less  true,  certainly,  that, 
in  this  country,  it  cannot  injure  you.  Savage  com- 
posed his  most  admired  productions  while  walking  over 
the  corn-fields;  and  then,  stepping  into  the  shops  and 
begging  a  pen,  he  wrote  on  scraps  of  paper  picked  up 
in  the  street,  what  he  had  composed  during  his  ram- 
bles. And  that  burning,  indescribable  passion  for 
knowledge  and  high  attainments  which  the  student 
ought  to  have,  can  no  more  be  quenched  by  his  pov- 
erty, than  the  deep  river  will  cease  to  roll  on  with  its 
ourden  of  waters,  because  you  cut  off  a  mountain  rill. 
Indeed,  the  circumstance  of  his  being  poor,  is  decided- 
ly favorable  to  the  hope  that  he  will  stand  high  as  a 
student ;  for  who  does  not  love  to  rise  above  obsta- 
cles which,  being  no  reproach  to  us  by  lying  in  our 
path,  and  which,  being  seen  by  all,  only  show  the 
strength  of  character  and  of  purpose  which  can  carry 
us  over  them  ?  The  discipline  which  poverty  adds  to 
the  character  is  often  more  severe  than  language  can 
describe  ;  but  the  spirit  that  can  bow  to  its  yoke,  and, 
under  it,  carry  forward  all  the  burdens  connected  with 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  287 

Students  should  not  be  ashamed  of  poverty. 

study,  is  the  spirit  to  be  hereafter  felt  and  revered 
by  others.  The  temptations  to  dissipation,  to  dress, 
and  extravagance,  to  take  the  mind  away  from  his 
books,  are  greatly  lessened  by  his  being  poor.  Look 
at  the  men  on  the  stage  of  life,  whose  voice,  whose 
pen,  whose  influence  are  felt  the  widest,  and  who  are 
the  ornaments  of  our  country.  Were  many  of  them 
cradled  in  affluence  ?  Did  they  acquire  their  strength 
on  beds  of  roses  ?  Or  are  they  those  who  have  made 
themselves  by  their  own  efforts,  little  aided  by  cir- 
cumstances that  may  be  denominated  fortuitous  ?  The 
most  indigent  student  in  the  land  need  not  fear  the  re- 
sults of  such  an  investigation. 

Never  be  ashamed  to  have  -it  known  that  you  are 
poor,  provided  that  your  poverty  is  owing  to  no  mis- 
management of  yours.  The  remark,  that  "  it  is  the 
eyes  of  other  people  which  cost  us  so  much,"  is  so 
true,  that,  to  attract  those  eyes,  some  will  be  extrava- 
gant, and  others  will  be,  odd,  in  their  appearance. 
"  A  celebrated  old  general  used  to  dress  in  a  fantastic 
manner,  by  way  of  making  himself  better  known.  It 
is  true,  people  would  say,  '  Who  is  that  old  fool?'  but 
it  is  also  true,  that  the  answer  was,  "  That  is  the  fa- 
mous General ,  who  took  such  a  place.'  No 

one  ever  stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  others,  who 
goes  beyond  his  means  to  adorn  his  person;  and 
while  the  student  should,  in  all  respects,  study  to  be  a 
gentleman  in  his  deportment,  it  is  no  more  desirable 


288  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Be  anxious  to  keep  out  of  debt.  What  to  do  if  debts  are  necessary. 

for  him  to  rely  upon  dress  for  character,  than  it  is  for 
a  lady  to  adorn  her  face  with  chalk,  which  the  rain 
will  wash  off,  or  with  paints,  which  the  sun  will  melt 
away. 

As  far  as  possible,  keep  out  of  debt.  Nothing,  short 
of  loss  of  character,  ever  weighs  down  the  spirits 
of  a  student,  like  a  load  of  accumulating  debts.  To 
say  nothing  about  independent  feeling,  which  he  can 
no  more  enjoy,  than  an  "  empty  bag  can  stand  upright," 
there  is  an  agony  about  it  of  which  the  stirring,  ac- 
tive, bargain-making  man  cannot  conceive.  It  haunts 
the  soul  day  and  night;  and  the  man  who  can  pros- 
per in  his  studies  while  sinking  in  debt,  must  have 
feelings  peculiar  to  himself,  and  be  made  of  "  sterner 
stuff"  than  most  men.  All  the  efforts  of  denying 
yourself  the  luxuries,  and  even  the  comforts  of  life, 
are  light,  in  comparison  with  the  burden  of  owing. 

But  perhaps  you  will  say,  that  your  circumstances 
are  such,  that  you  must  relinquish  your  studies,  at 
once  and  forever,  or  be  in  debt.  What  shall  you  do 
in  such  a  case  ?  I  reply  that,  if  you  must  meet  an 
evil,  and  carry  a  burden  on  your  back  for  years, 
make  every  effort  to  have  it  as  light  as  possible.  You 
must  be  in  debt,  we  will  suppose.  Try,  then,  and  see 
how  little  you  can  be  in  debt,  and  possibly  get  along. 
In  this  case,  in  order  to  have  the  mind  as  free  as  you 
can,  borrow  your  money  at  one  place,  and  in  sums  so 
large,  that  you  need  have  no  small  debts  upon  which 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  "  289 

Not  to  consult  taste  in  purchases. 

you  think,  and  over  which  you  ache,  every  time  you 
walk  out.  Keep  a  small  book,  in  which  you  register 
all  the  items  of  your  expense,  and  frequently  look  it 
over,  and  see  if  there  be  an  item  registered  which  you 
might  have  saved,  by  the  most  rigid  economy. 

If  the  taste  of  a  young  man  improves  as  it  should 
during  the  progress  of  study,  he  will  be  in  danger, 
when  he  makes  purchases,  of  consulting  his  taste  and 
fancy,  rather  than  his  judgment  or  his  means.  It  is 
natural,  if  the  taste  be  cultivated,  to  be  unsatisfied 
with  purchases  which  do  not  bear  marks  of  having 
been  prepared  for  a  refined  taste ;  and  such  prepara- 
tions are  always  to  be  paid  for  dearly.  You  must  re- 
sist this  appetite,  and  consult  your  judgment,  rather 
than  your  taste,  or  be  very  sparing  in  your  purchases. 
I  have  known  a  poor  student  pay  thirty  or  thirty-five 
dollars  for  a  flute,  when  one  seventh  of  the  sum  would 
have  procured  one  of  a  tone  every  way  as  good ;  and 
the  instrument,  inasmuch  as  he  never  made  any  thing 
more  than  an  ordinary  proficient  upon  it,  every  way 
as  valuable  to  him.  Pay  as  little  to  gratify  your  taste 
as  you  please,  at  present.  You  can  at  any  future 
time  do  that. 

Buy  nothing  because  it  is  offered  cheap.  The 
question  should  be,  not,  Is  this  article  worth,  and  more 
than  worth  its  price  ?  but,  Can  I  not  possibly  get  along 
without  it  ?  For  this  purpose,  keep  away  from  places 
where  cheap  things  are  to  be  sold,  such  as  auction- 
19 


290  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Temptation  of  buying  books. 

rooms,  and  the  like.     "  He  who  buys  what  he  does 
not  need,  will  often  need  what  he  cannot  buy."     Nor 
can  you  expect  to  purchase  any  thing  like  all  that 
you  want — all  that  would  add  to  your  comfort.     We 
must   not   only   deny  ourselves   many  things  which 
would  be  pleasant,  but  also  many  which,  at  first  view, 
seem    essential.     Beware    of   buying    books.     The 
temptation  is  great  here.     But  there  are  obvious  rea- 
sons why  you  should  resist  it.     One  is,  that  few  books 
will  be  sufficiently  valuable  to  you  to  be  worth  the 
interest  of  your  money.     Another  is,  that  every  year 
brings  books  more  and  more  within  your  reach,  as 
every   edition  of  a  valuable   work   is   likely  to   be 
cheaper  than  the  preceding.     You  may  think  you  get 
this  and  that  volume  cheap  ;  but,  ten  years  hence, 
you  will  not  think  so.     I  could  mention  a  gentleman 
who  entered  his  profession  under  an  embarrassment 
of  four.  Hundred  dollars,  for  books.     But  before  he 
could  possibly  pay  the  debt,  the  interest  which  he 
paid  on  the  money  would  have  purchased  what  would 
have  been  more  valuable  to  him.     Excepting  your 
text-books,  purchase  but  few  books — perhaps  some 
three  or   four  volumes  a  year; — the   Institution   at 
which  you  study,  will  furnish  you  with  books  during 
term-time,  and  your  own  purchases  will  fill  up  the  va- 
cations.    It  is  amusing,  in  reading  the  correspondence 
of  the  amiable  Cowper,  to  see  him  borrowing  most 
of  the  books  which  he  read,  because  his  finances  would 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  291 

Form  habits  of  economy  for  life. 

not  allow  him  to  purchase, — and  debts  he  could  not 
endure. 

The  habits  of  economy  which  you  now  form  are 
for  life;  and  upon  these  habits  are  to  depend  the 
questions,  whether  your  journey  through  life  be  one 
of  independence  and  comfort,  or  of  mortification  and 
inquietude.  If  you  will  read  over  the  curious  docu- 
ment embracing  the  minute  expenses  of  Washington, 
during  the  whole  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and  which 
he  kept  with  his  own  hand,  you  will  be  struck  with  his 
economical  habits,  and  feel  that  such  traits  properly 
go  into  a  great  character.  That  is  a  mistaken  notion 
which  supposes  that  a  want  of  economy  is  a  mark  of 
genius,  and  that  profusion,  extravagance,  and  debts,  are 
inseparable  from  a  man  who  is  to  be  distinguished  for 
mental  attainments.  Nothing  is  beneath  you,  which 
will  keep  you  from  anxiety,  and  permit  the  mind  to 
pursue  the  paths  of  knowledge  unclogged  and  unfet- 
tered. While  it  should  be  impressed  on  the  student, 
that  "  wealth  cannot  confer  greatness,  because  nothing 
can  make  that  great  which  the  decrees  of  nature  have 
ordained  to  be  little ;  that  the  bramble  may  be  placed 
in  a  hot-bed,  but  can  never  become  an  oak ; "  it  should, 
at  the  same  time,  be  equally  impressed  upon  him, 
that  he  must  feel  prodigal  of  his  mental  powers  who 
can  strike  for  a  high  character,  knowing  that  much  of 
the  strength  of  these  powers  is  to  be  expended  in  the 
embarrassments  of  debts.  As  to  being  useful,  there 


292  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Make  your  expenses  a  matter  of  conscience. 

ever  has  been,  and  ever  will  be,  so  much  of  disgrace 
connected  with  being  in  debt,  that  you  cannot  be  as 
useful  while  you  owe.  If  you  must  be  in  debt,  strive 
to  make  the  bondage  as  light  as  possible,  and  seek  for 
freedom  the  first  hour  that  you  can. 

Finally,  one  of  the  very  best  safeguards  against  the 
least  waste  of  property,  is  to  consider  yourself  account- 
able to  God  for  all  that  you  have, — that  you  must  an- 
swer to  him  for  its  use  or  abuse ;  and  especially  if  you 
have  not  of  your  own,  but  live  by  borrowing  of  others, 
will  he  hold  you  most  strictly  accountable  for  all  that 
you  expend.  While  you  have  no  items  on  your  book 
at  which  you  cannot  look  with  pleasure,  be  careful, 
also,  to  have  your  conscience,  on  this  subject,  enlight- 
ened by  a  regard  to  the  eye  of  your  God. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  HEART. 

Mr  reader  will  have  noticed,  that  I  have  said  little 
or  nothing  thus  far  on  the  high  subject  of  the  moral 
feelings.  The  omission  was  designed;  not  that  I 
deem  this  subject  of  small  importance  to  the  student, 
but  because  I  wished  to  present  each  topic  by  it- 
self, hoping  thereby  that  the  light  which  fell  upon 
each  would  be  stronger,  and  that  thus  each  would  make 
a  deep  and  a  distinct  impression.  The  two  chapters 
which  now  remain  of  this  little  book  are,  in  my  view, 
by  far  the  most  important  of  any ;  and  I  cannot  but 
hope  that  they  will  receive  the  attention  of  the  reader 
in  proportion  as  they  are  important. 

One  of  the  first  steps  to  be  taken,  if  you  would 
have  a  character  that  will  stand  by  you  in  prosperity 
and  in  adversity,  in  life  and  in  death,  is  to  fortify  your 
mind  with  faced  principles. 

There  is  no  period  in  life  in  which  the  heart  is  so 
much  inclined  to  skepticism  and  infidelity  as  in  youth. 
Not  that  young  men  are  infidels,  but  the  mind  is  toss- 
ed from  doubt  to  doubt  like  a  light  boat  leaping  from 
wave  to  wave.  There  is  no  positive  settling  down  into 
deism  or  infidelity,  but  the  heart  is  so  full  of  doubt- 


294  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Infidel  notions.  What  sort  of  men  are  infidels  ? 

ing,  that  the  mind  has  no  position,  in  morals  or  religion, 
fortified.  If  the  restraints  of  education  are  so  far 
thrown  off  as  to  allow  you  to  indulge  in  sin  which  is  in 
any  way  disgraceful  if  known,  you  will  then  easily 
become  an  infidel.  "  The  nurse  of  infidelity  is  sen- 
suality. Youth  are  sensual.  The  Bible  stands  in 
their  way.  It  prohibits  the  indulgence  of  '  the  lust 
of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life.' 
But  the  young  mind  loves  these  things,  and  therefore 
it  hates  the  Bible,  which  prohibits  them.  It  is  prepar- 
ed to  say,  '  If  any  man  will  bring  me  arguments  against 
the  Bible,  I  will  thank  him :  if  not,  I  will  invent  them.' 
I  never  gathered  from  infidel  writers,  when  an  avowed 
infidel  myself,  any  solid  difficulties,  which  were  not 
brought  to  my  mind  by  a  very  young  child  of  my 
own.  'Why  was  sin  permitted ? — What  an  insignifi- 
cant world  is  this  to  be  redeemed  by  the  incarnation 
and  death  of  the  Son  of  God  ! — Who  can  believe 
that  so  few  will  be  saved  ? '  Objections  of  this  kind, 
in  the  mind  of  reasoning  young  persons,  prove  to  me 
that  they  are  the  growth  of  fallen  nature.  As  to  infi- 
del arguments,  there  is  no  weight  in  them.  They  are 
jejune  and  refuted.  Infidels  are  not  themselves  con- 
vinced by  them.  What  sort  of  men  are  infidels? 
They  are  loose,  fierce,  overbearing  men.  There 
is  nothing  in  them  like  sober  and  serious  inquiry. 
They  are  the  wildest  fanatics  on  earth.  Nor  have 
they  agreed  among  themselves  on  any  scheme  of  truth 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  295 

Testimony  of  one  who  had  been  an  infidel. 

and  felicity.  Look  at  the  need  and  necessities  of 
man.  '  Every  pang  of  grief  tells  a  man  that  he  needs 
a  helper ;  but  infidelity  provides  none.  And  what  can 
its  schemes  do  for  you  in  death  ? '  Examine  your  con- 
science. Why  is  it  that  you  listen  to  infidelity  ?  Is 
not  infidelity  a  low,  carnal,  wicked  game  ?  Is  it  not 
the  very  picture  of  the  prodigal, — '  Father,  give  me 
the  portion  of  goods  which  falleth  to  me  ? '  Why,  WHY 
will  a  man  be  an  infidel  ?  Draw  out  the  map  of  the 
road  of  infidelity.  It  will  lead  you  to  such  stages,  at 
length,  as  you  could  never  suspect." 

This  is  the  testimony  of  one  who  had  faithfully 
travelled  the  road  of  infidelity  ;  a  man  whose  testimo- 
ny would  have  rung  through  the  world,  had  he  con- 
tinued a  low,  grovelling,  sensual  infidel ;  but  whose  tes- 
timony has  never  been  noticed  by  infidels,  since  he 
became  a  better  man,  and  an  eminent  Christian.  I 
will  here  put  it  to  my  reader  to  say,  whether  he  can 
recollect,  in  all  he  has  known  of  men  from  history  or 
observation,  a  great,  discriminating  and  efficient  mind, 
— a  mind  that  has  blessed  the  world  in  any  degree, — 
which  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  infidel  principles  ? 
Take  the  writings  of  such  a  mind,  and  you  will  be 
astonished  at  the  vulgarity,  sophistry,  puerility,  and 
weakness,  which  are  continually  marking  its  progress. 
Suppose  him  a  politician.  In  the  unpublished  lan- 
guage of  a  young  friend  of  mine,  "  it  may  be  said  that 
his  religion  has  nothing  to  do  with  his  political  opin- 


296  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

No  safety  in  opinions  if  religious  views  are  loose. 

ions.  But  this  is  not  clear :  it  is  justly  remarked  by 
some  writer,  I  know  not  whom,  '  that  the  mind  which 
has  been  warped  and  biased  upon  one  great  subject,  is 
not  safely  trusted  upon  another.'  And  can  we  say  of 
a  man,  '  It  is  true  that  the  evidences  of  the  Christian 
religion,  which  carry  along  with  them  the  soundest 
judgments,  and  the  most  profound  minds,  did  not  meet 
a  reception  in  his  ?  It  is  true  that  his  intellect  did  not 
lead  him  to  such  conclusions  on  this  subject  as  we 
consider  to  be  the  necessary  conclusions  of  a  balanced 
mind, — but  yet,  in  politics,  he  was  great,  deep,  search- 
ing, divine ! "  Learning,  poetry,  and  literature,  walk 
hand  in  hand  under  the  light  of  the  gospel.,  They 
are  destined  to  do  so ;  and  no  where  else  on  earth  can 
they  now  be  found.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  for 
any  mind,  amid  all  this  light,  to  veil  itself  in  infidelity, 
and  expect  to  be  known,  revered,  or  influential  among 
men.  Were  there  no  warpings  of  the  mind,  and  no 
outrages  committed  upon  it,  when  it  was  led  to  em- 
brace infidelity,  still  it  asks  too  much. of  its  fellows, 
when  it  demands  admittance  to  their  communion,  and 
asks  permission  to  reach  other  minds,  when  it  pretends 
to  pour  nothing  but  the  cold  light  of  a  December 
evening  upon  them.  There  is  so  little  of  sympathy 
between  the  mind  of  an  infidel  and  the  enlightened, 
Christian  part  of  the  community,  that,  if  he  hopes  to 
have  any  influence  upon  men,  it  must  be  upon  those 
who  have  already  made  shipwreck  of  character  and 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  297 

Settle  your  religious  views  early. 

hopes,  and  who  will  hear  him  speak  or  write,  because 
he  holds  out  the  last,  faint  glimmering  of  hope  to  them, 
ere  they  are  thrust  off  upon  the  dark  waters,  upon 
which  nothing  else  sheds  a  ray  of  light. 

Should  you  be  among  those  who  have  no  fixed 
principles  in  morals  and  religion,  for  your  own  peace 
and  usefulness,  I  beg  you  to  settle  this  subject  at  once 
and  forever.  Has  God  ever  spoken  to  man  ?  If  so, 
when  and  how  ?  These  are  the  most  important  ques- 
tions ever  asked.  And  they  should  be  answered  and 
settled,  so  that  the  mind  may  have  something  to  rest 
upon  so  firm  that  nothing  shall  move  it.  "  We  are 
mere  mites  creeping  on  the  earth,  and  oftentimes  con- 
ceited mites  too."  We  can  easily  unsettle  things,  but 
can  erect  nothing.  We  can  pull  down  a  church,  but, 
without  aid,  cannot  erect  a  hovel.  The  earlier  in 
life  you  settle  your  principles,  the  firmer,  more  mature, 
more  influential,  will  your  character  be.  Search  the 
Bible,  and  try  it  as  you  would  gold  in  the  furnace.  If 
you  doubt  its  inspiration,  sit  down  to  its  examination 
with  candor,  and  with  an  honest  desire  to  know  what 
is  truth :  let  the  examination  be  as  thorough  as  you 
please ;  but,  when  once  made,  let  it  be  settled  for- 
ever. You  will  then  have  something  to  stand  upon. 
You  will  have  an  unerring  standard  by  which  to 
regulate  your  conduct,  your  conscience,  and  your 
heart.  The  ship  that  outrides  the  storm  with  the 
greatest  ease,  is  the  one  which  has  her  anchors  oul, 


298  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Resolutions  of  Edwards. 

her  cables  stretched,  and  her  sails  furled,  before  the 
strength  of  the  storm  has  reached  her ;  and  the  navi- 
gator, who  must  stand  at  the  helm  through  the  long, 
dark  night,  does  not  wait  till  that  night  comes,  ere  he 
sees  that  his  compass  is  boxed  and  properly  hung.  He 
who  has  his  religious  principles  early  fixed,  has  noth- 
ing to  do  but  at  once,  and  continually,  to  act  upon 
them — to  carry  them  out  in  practice.  He  has  not  the 
delays  and  the  vexations  of  distrust  and  doubt  every 
little  while,  when  he  stops  to  examine  and  settle  a 
principle.  Every  reader  will  be  convinced  of  this, 
who  will  read  over  the  seventy  resolutions  of  Presi- 
dent Edwards,  all  of  which  were  formed  before  he  was 
twenty  years  old,  and  the  most  important  of  them,  be- 
fore he  was  nineteen.  No  mind  could  form,  and  act 
upon,  such  principles  from  early  life,  without  becom- 
ing great  and  efficient.  I  cannot  refrain  from  select- 
ing a  few  of  these  as  a  specimen. 

"  1.  Resolved,  that  I  will  do  whatsoever  I  think  to 
be  most  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  my  own  good,  profit, 
and  pleasure,  in  the  whole  of  my  duration,  without 
any  consideration  of  the  time,  whether  now,  or  never  so 
many  myriads  of  ages  hence.  Resolved,  to  do  what- 
ever I  think  to  be  my  duty,  and  most  for  the  good 
and  advantage  of  mankind  in  general.  Resolved,  so 
to  do,  whatever  difficulties  I  meet  with,  how  many 
soever,  and  how  great  soever." 

"4.  Resolved,  never  to  do  any  manner  of  thing, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  299 

Resolutions. 

whether  in  soul  or  body,  less  or  more,  but  what  tends 
to  the  glory  of  God,  nor  be,  nor  suffer  it,  if  I  can 
possibly  avoid  it. 

"5.  Resolved,  never  to  lose  one  moment  of  time, 
but  to  improve  it  in  the  most  profitable  way  I  possi- 
bly can. 

"  6.  Resolved,  to  live  with  all  my  might  while  1 
do  live. 

"  7.  Resolved,  never  to  do  any  thing,  which  1 
should  be  afraid  to  do,  if  it  were  the  las);  hour  of 
my  life." 

"  20.  Resolved,  to  maintain  the  strictest  temper- 
ance in  eating  and  drinking. 

"  21.  Resolved,  never  to  do  any  thing,  which,  if  I 
should  see  in  another,  I  should  count  a  just  occasion 
to  despise  him  for,  or  to  think  any  way  the  more 
meanly  of  him." 

"34.  Resolved,  in  narrations  never  to  speak  any 
thing  but  the  pure  and  simple  verity." 

"46.  Resolved,  never  to  allow  the  least  measure  of 
any  fretting  or  uneasiness  at  my  father  or  mother. 
Resolved,  to  suffer  no  effects  of  it,  so  much  as  in  the 
least  alteration  of  speech,  or  motion  of  my  eye,  and 
to  be  especially  careful  of  it  with  respect  to  any  of  our 
family." 

The  whole  of  these  seventy  resolutions  are  every 
way  worthy  the  attention  and  the  imitation  of  every 
young  man.  And  while  this  example  is  before  you. 


300  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL 

Resolutions  of  a  distinguished  man. 

allow  me  to  present  a  few  brief  resolutions  which 
were  formed  by  a  young  man  before  he  entered  col- 
lege, and  which  formed  a  character  known  and  rever- 
ed widely,  and  whose  death  was  sincerely  lamented. 

"  For  the  future  direction  of  my  life,  I  resolve, 

"  1 .  That  I  will  make  religion  my  chief  concernment. 

"2.  That  I  will  never  be  afraid  or  ashamed  to 
speak  in  defence  of  religion. 

"  3.  That  I  will  make  it  my  daily  practice  to  read 
some  part  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  I  may  become 
acquainted  with  the  will  of  God,  and  be  quickened 
and  comforted,  and  qualified  to  serve  Christ  and  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  his  kingdom  in  the  world. 

"4.  That  I  will  every  day  reflect  upon  death  and 
eternity. 

"  5.  That  I  will  daily  pray  to  God  in  secret. 

"  6.  That,  upon  all  proper  occasions,  I  will  reprove 
vice,  and  discountenance  it,  and,  to  my  utmost,  en- 
courage virtue  and  religion. 

"  7.  That  I  will  dispute  only  for  light,  or  to  com- 
municate it. 

(CS.  That  I  will  receive  light  wherever  and  how- 
ever offered. 

"  9.  That  I  will  give  up  no  principle  before  I  am 
convinced  of  its  absurdity  or  bad  consequences. 

"  10.  That  I  will  never  be  ashamed  to  confess  a 
fault  to  an  equal  or  to  an  inferior. 

"11.  That  I  will  make  it  a  rule  to  do  no  action,  at 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  301 

A  common  prejudice  among  students.          Religion  exalts  the  mind. 

any  time  or  place,  of  which  action  I  should  not  be 
willing  to  be  a  witness  against  myself  hereafter." 

It  is  frequently  the  case  that  young  men  have  an 
idea  that  there  is  something  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
heart,  and  in  the  restraints  of  religion,  which  degrades 
or  cramps  the  soul ;  that  a  mind  which  is  naturally 
noble  and  lofty,  will  becdme  grovelling  and  contract- 
ed by  submitting  to  moral  restraints.  This  is  a  mere 
prejudice  ;  and  it  does  little  good  to  deny  a  prejudice. 
But  go  into  that  library,  and  examine  the  shelves,  and 
see  who  are  those  who  have  penned  what  will  be 
immortal,  and  influence  other  minds  as  long  as  earth 
shall  endure.  In  almost  every  instance,  the  work 
which  will  hold  its  place  the  longest,  was  dictated  by  a 
Christian  heart.  The  loftiest  minds,  the  most  cultiva- 
ted intellects,  and  the  most  solid  judgments,'  have  bowed 
at  the  altar  of  God,  and  have  been  quickened  and 
ennobled  by  the  waters  which  flow  from  his  mount ; 
and  if  we  go  up  from  man  to  those  higher  orders  of 
beings  who  compose  "  the  presence  "  of  the  Eternal, 
we  shall  find  them,  after  having  shouted  for  joy  over 
the  creation  of  this  world,  when  the  morning  stars 
sang  together ;  after  having  watched  the  providences 
of  God,  and  seen  empires  rise  and  fall ;  after  having 
hung  around  the  good  in  all  their  wanderings  on  earth, 
still  studying  the  Gospel,  to  have  their  views  enlarg- 
ed, their  conceptions  of  the  infinite  wisdom  expanded, 
and  still  desiring  to  look  into  these  things.  May 


302  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Means  of  disciplining-  the  heart.  First  suggestion. 

not  the  sublime  idea  of  the  modesty  of  these  "  angelic 
students"  rebuke  the  ignorance,  the  darkness,  and 
consummate  pride,  of  those  who  feel  that  their  great- 
ness would  be  diminished  by  bowing  to  the  gospel  of 
God?  The  angels  diligently  look  into  the  myste- 
ry of  the  gospel ;  and  they  are  the  companions  and 
fellow-students  of  all  who  thus  study  it. 

By  disciplining  the  heart,  I  mean,  bringing  it  into 
subjection  to  the  will  of  God,  so  that  you  can  best 
honor  him,  and  do  most  for  the  well-being  of  men.  I 
shall  suggest  some  means  by  which  the  heart  may  be 
disciplined  and  the  feelings  cultivated. 

1 .  Let  it  le  your  immediate  and  constant  aim  to 
make  every  event  subservient  to  cultivating  the.  heart. 

We  are  in  danger  of  acknowledging  the  importance 
of  this  subject,  but  at  the  same  time  of.  putting  it  off 
to  a  convenient  season.  You  suppose,  your  present  cir- 
cumstances are  not  favorable.  There  are  difficulties 
now,  but  you  are  looking  forward  to  the  time  when 
things  will  be  different.  Your  studies  will  not  hurry 
you  so  much;  they  will  become  much  easier;  and 
you  will  have  conveniences  which  you  have  not  at 
the  present  time.  But  when  you  shall  go  to  another 
place,  or  commence  a  new  study,  or  enter  upon  a  more 
pleasant  season  of  the  year,  or  have  a  new  companion 
in  your  room,  then  you  can  begin  to  take  care  of 
jour  heart,  and  have  intercourse  with  God.  But  you 
greatly  misjudge.  Every  thing,  every  circumstance 


» 
THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  303 

Every  thing1  may  contribute  to  it. 

in  our  condition,  is  designed  by  Infinite  Wisdom  as 
a  part  of  our  moral  discipline  ;  and  He  who  watch- 
es the  sparrow  when  she  alights,  and  directs  her 
how  and  where  to  find  the  grain  of  food,  lie  directs 
all  things  relating  to  your  situation ;  and  he  designs 
to  have  every  thing  contribute  to  your  moral  improve- 
ment. There  is  not  a  temptation  which  meets  you, 
nor  a  vexation  which  harasses  you.  nor  a  trouble 
which  depresses  you,  but  it  was  all  designed  for  your 
good.  Do  not  put  off,  and  plead  that  the  path  in 
which  your  Heavenly  Father  is  leading  you  is  differ- 
ent from  what  .you  would  have  chosen,  and  therefore 
you  are  excusable  for  not  doing  his  will.  No  prin- 
ciple of  action  is  of  any  worth,  unless  it  leads  you 
continually  to  take  care  of  the  heart.  I  have  spoken 
already  of  the  difficulty  in  subduing  the  mind,  so  as  to 
make  study  easy.  You  will  find  the  heart  no  more 
readily  subdued.  Every  indulgence  of  vice,  every 
neglect  of  duty,  strengthens  the  habits  and  propensi- 
ties, to  do  wrong  and  to  go  astray. 

Should  the  hand  of  Providence  strike  down  your 
best  earthly  friend,  you  would  feel  that  you  were  call- 
ed upon  to  make  the  event  contribute  to  moral  cul- 
ture. But  do  you  feel  that  it  is  best  to  wait  for  such 
providences? — to  tempt  God  thus  to  visit  you  with 
afflictions  ?  Every  event  under  his  government  is  de- 
signed to  do  you  good ;  and  he  who  does  not  make  it 
his  daily  business  to  cultivate  his  heart,  will  be  in 


304  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Second  suggestion.  Cultivate  the  conscience. 

great  danger  of  never  doing  it.  You  cannot  do  it  at 
any  time,  and  in  a  short  period.  A  virtuous  and  holy 
character  is  not  built  up  in  a  day  :  it  is  the  work  of 
a  long  life.  Begin  the  work  at  once,  and  make  it  as 
really  a  part  of  your  duties  daily  to  cultivate  the 
heart,  as  it  is  to  take  care  of  the  body,  or  to  cultivate 
the  intellect. 

2.    Make  it  a  part  of  your  daily  habits  to  cul- 
tivate your  conscience. 

A  man  never  became  intemperate  or  profane  at 
once.  He  never  became  a  proficient  in  any  sin  by  a 
single  leap.  The  youth  first  hears  the  oath,  blushes 
as  he  falters  out  his  first  profane  expression,  and  goes 
on,  step  by  step,  till  he  rolls  "  sin  as  a  sweet  morsel 
under  his  tongue."  It  is  so  with  any  sin.  In  this 
way,  the  conscience  is  blunted  and  the  heart  harden- 
ed. In  this  way,  too,  the  conscience  is  recovered, 
and  made  susceptible  to  divine  impressions.  Were 
you  seeking  only  for  a  powerful  motive  to  impel  you 
onward  in  your  studies,  and  were  you  regardless  of 
your  moral  culture,  still  I  would  urge  you,  on  this 
ground  alone,  to  cultivate  conscience  most  assiduously. 
I  will  tell  you  why. 

There  are  but  few  men  who  can  be  brought  to  task 
their  powers  so  as  to  achieve  much  by  motives  drawn 
from  this  world  only.  With  the  mass  of  educated 
men  this  is  true.  Wealth  cannot  bribe  to  steady,  un- 
wearied efforts;  ambition  may  lay  an  iron  hand  on 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  305 

Use  of  a  cultivated  conscience.  Illustrations. 

the  soul,  but  it  cannot,  excepting  here  and  there,  do 
it  with  a  grasp  sufficient  to  keep  it  in  action :  the  soft 
whispers  of  pleasure  can  do  nothing  towards  shaking 
off  the  indolence  and  sluggishness  of  man;  and  fame, 
with  a  silver  trumpet,  calls  in  vain.  These  motives 
can  reach  only  a  few.  But  conscience  is  a  motive 
which  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  all,  and  can  be 
cultivated  till  she  calls  every  energy,  every  suscepti- 
bility, every  faculty  of  the  soul  into  constant,  vigor- 
ous, powerful  action.  Every  other  motive,  when 
analyzed,  is  small,  mean,  contemptible,  and  such  as 
you  despise  when  you  see  it  operating  upon  others. 
The  soul  of  man  is  ashamed  to  confess  itself  a  slave 
to  any  other  power.  But  this  is  not  all :  any  other 
motive  soon  loses  its  power.  Trials,  and  misfortunes, 
and  disappointments,  damp,  kill  any  other  governing 
motive.  But  this  is  not  so  of  the  man  who  acts  from 
conscience.  You  can  crush  him  only  by  destroying 
his  life.  Shut  him  up  in  the  prison,  and  he  writes 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews — a  work  which  is  yet 
to  do  wonders,  I  doubt  not,  when  the  "  scattered, 
peeled "  sons  of  Israel  are  called  in.  Shut  him  up 
^  prison,  and  his  conscience  arouses  him,  and  carries 
him  onward  to  exertions  unthought  of  before.  The 
cold  walls  of  his  dungeon  grow  warm  while  he  de- 
scribes the  Pilgrim's  Progress  up  to  eternal  day,  and 
scatters  the  food  of  angels  over  the  earth  ; — while  he 
describes  the  Saint's  Everlasting  Rest,  and  actually 
20 


306  THE    STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

How  the  greatest  efforts  of  the  mind  can  be  called  forth. 

does  more  for  the  good  of  man,  under  the  pressure  of 
conscience,  in  adversity,  than  during  all  the  days  of 
his  prosperity. 

Only  fix  the  impression  on  the  mind  so  that  it  will 
be  abiding,  that  we  are  accountable  to  God  for  all 
that  we  accomplish,  and  the  amount  of  effort  and 
success  will  be  almost  unmeasured.  Connect  the 
immeasurable  demands  of  eternity  with  every  effort 
to  conquer  sin,  to  subdue  your  appetites  and  pas- 
sions, and  thus  make  the  soul  and  body  more  disci- 
plined instruments  of  doing  good,  together  with  every 
noble  resolution,  and  every  exertion,  whether  it  be 
for  life  or  for  a  moment, — and  you  will  not  do  small 
things ;  you  will  not  walk  through  life  unfelt,  un- 
known, and  you  will  not  go  down  to  the  grave  un- 
wopt.  Every  unholy  desire  •  that  you  conquer ; 
every  thought  that  you  treasure  up  for  future  use; 
every  moment  that  you  seize  as  it  flies  and  stamp 
with  something  good,  which  it  may  carry  to  the  judg- 
ment-seat; every  influence  which  you  exert  upon  the 
world  for  the  honor  of  God  or  the  good  of  man, — 
all,  all  is  not  only  connected  with  the  approbation  of 
God  and  the  rewards  of  eternal  ages,  but  all  aids  you 
to  strike  for  higher  and  nobler  efforts  still,  till  you 
are  enabled  to  achieve  what  will  astonish  even  your- 
self. Think  over  the  long  list  of  those  men  who 
have  lived  and  acted  under  the  direct  and  continued 
influence  of  a  conscience  which  chained  every  exer- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         307 

Thoughts  at  a  grave.  We  must  meet  with  temptations. 

tion  and  every  thought  directly  to  the  throne  of  God. 
Go,  stand  at  the  grave  of  one  of  these  men;  and  you 
will  go  away  musing  and  heart-smitten,  to  think  that 
he  finished  his  work,  and  did  it  so  soon,  and  went 
home  to  his  rest  in  the  morning  of  life,  while  you 
have  never  even  contemplated  doing  but  little  good. 
The  stone  over  the  dust  of  such  a  one  will  soon  crum- 
ble away ;  but  the  light  which  surrounds  that  grave 
will  grow  brighter  and  brighter,  till  seen  the  earth 
over,  because  his  faculties  were  under  the  continued 
direction  and  control  of  conscience. 

Had  I  no  other  aim,  then,  than  merely  to  excite 
you  to  high  and  noble  enterprise,  to  make  great  ef- 
forts while  you  live,  that  motive  which  I  would  select 
as  incomparably  superior  to  all  others,  to  lead  you  to 
effort,  is  a  cultivated,  sanctified  conscience.  But  I 
have  an  aim  higher  than  even  this,  in  urging  you  to 
cultivate  your  conscience. 

The  path  of  life  is  beset  with  temptations.  This  is 
a  part  of  our  moral  discipline.  We  must  meet  them 
every  day  :  we  cannot  go  round  them,  nor  go  past 
them,  without  being  solicited  by  them ;  and  nothing 
but  a  conscience  increasingly  tender  will  enable  us  to 
meet  and  overcome  them.  For  example,  you  will, 
every  week,  if  not  every  day,  find  seasons  when  you 
are  tempted  to  be  idle,  to  waste  your  time.  There  is 
no  motive  at  hand  which  will  arouse  you.  These  frag- 
ments of  time  are  scattered  all  along  your  path. 


308  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Examples  of  temptations. 

Nothing  but  a  cultivated  conscience  will  enable  you  to 
save  them.  But  this  will.  It  cannot  be  created  and 
brought  to  bear  upon  you  when  indolence  has  seized 
you.  No,  it  must  be  done  before. 

You  will  often  be  tempted  to  smite  with  the  tongue. 
The  company  indulge  freely  in  their  remarks  upon 
absent  characters.  Opportunities  occur  in  which  you 
can  throw  in  a  word  or  two  handsomely,  and  there- 
fore keenly.  You  can  gain  credit  by  the  shrewdness 
with  which  you  judge  of  character,  and  for  your  in- 
sight into  human  nature.  No  motive  of  kindness,  of 
politeness,  no  sense  of  justice,  will  now  avail  to  meet 
this  temptation :  nothing  but  a  tender  conscience  will 
do  it. 

You  are  a  student.  Your  health  may  not  be  good, 
— your  nerves  are  easily  excited, — you  are  easily 
thrown  off  your  guard,  speak  quickly,  and  evidently 
with  a  great  loss  of  self-respect,  which  aids  in  in- 
creasing your  ill-humor  and  your  tartness.  You  can- 
not reason  yourself  or  shame  yourself  into  a  good 
temper:  a  cultivated  conscience  is  the  only  thing 
which  will  sweeten  the  temper. 

In  the  course  of  your  life,  you  will  be  making  bar- 
gains, and  be  more  or  less  in  habits  of  dealing  with 
men.  You  may  intend  to  be  an  honorable  and  an 
honest  man;  but  you  will  be  strongly  tempted,  at 
times,  to  cheapen  what  you  buy,  and  over-praise 
what  you  sell,  or  to  do  as  you  would  not  that 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         309 

Examples  continued.  Third  suggestion. 

others  should  do  unto  you,  unless  you  are  under  the 
direction  of  a  clear,  discriminating  conscience. 

You  know  how  much  we  esteem  our  character  in 
the  sight  of  men.  Many  will  fight  for  it,  and  quarrel 
for  it,  and  prefer  death  a  thousand  times  to  the  loss  of 
character,  in  the  eyes  of  their  fellow-men.  This  love 
of  character  is  as  it  should  be.  But  what  is  it  to  be 
judged  of  men,  in  comparison  to  being  judged  of  God  ? 
Of  what  consequence  is  it  what  men  say  of  us,  or  think 
of  us,  in  comparison  to  what  God  thinks  of  us  ?  Who, 
that  believes  in  the  justice  of  God,  and  in  the  immortal- 
ity of  the  soul,  would  not  prefer  to  have  his  approbation 
to  that  of  the  universe  besides  ?  But  you  can  never 
gain  his  approbation  ;  you  can  never  stand  fair  in  his 
sight ;  you  can  never  have  him  for  your  friend,  unless 
you  have  a  heart  that  is  continually  under  the  disci- 
pline of  a  well-regulated,  cultivated  conscience. 

3.  Avoid  temptations. 

It  is  wisdom  in  beings  as  frail  as  we  are,  not  only 
to  use  every  possible  means  to  overcome  sins  which 
beset  us,  but,  as  far  as  possible,  to  avoid  meeting  them. 
If  you  are  on  a  journey,  with  a  high  object  in  view  to 
be  attained,  and  you  may  be  beset  with  enemies,  you 
will  feel  anxious,  not  merely  to  be  so  well  guarded 
that  they  cannot  overcome  you,  but,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, to  avoid  meeting  them.  There  is  something  in 
the  simple  piety  of  Baxter  which  pleases  usr  when 
he  gravely  tells  us  what  a  blessing  he  received  in 


310  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Avoid  temptation.  Easily-besetting  temptations. 

narrowly  escaping  getting  a  place  at  court  in  the  early 
part  of  his  life.  We  all  believe  in  a  superintending 
Providence ;  and  we  know  that  many  of  the  best 
men  who  have  ever  lived,  have  been  not  merely  shut 
out  from  wealth,  and  station,  and  honors,  but  made 
objects  of  suffering,  and  even  of  derision  to  the  rest 
of  mankind,  The  hand  that  covers  them  seems 
rough,  and  frequently  oppressive.  But  multitudes, 
who  have  been  ornaments  to  society,  and  blessings  to 
their  species,  and  who,  after  having  done  their  work 
here,  have  gone  to  the  rewards  of  the  perfect,  have 
owed  their  character  chiefly  to  the  fact,  that  their  cir- 
cumstances shielded  them  from  temptations.  Were 
you  to  mark  any  number  of  young  men  in  the  same 
class,  who  you  would  fear  will  accomplish  little  or 
nothing  for  the  good  of  man,  you  would  be  likely  to 
select  those  who,  by  their  situations,  are  peculiarly  ex- 
posed to  temptations. 

There  are  said  to  be  certain  peculiar  sins  which 
easily  beset  every  man ;  and  there  are  certainly  temp- 
tations which  are  peculiar  to  every  one.  Into  some 
you  fall  oftener  and  more  easily  than  into  others. 
Some  will  meet  you  in  one  place,  and  some  in  anoth- 
er ;  some  in  one  shape,  and  some  in  another.  It  is 
important,  for  any  improvement  in  moral  character, 
to  know  where  you  are  peculiarly  exposed;  and  at 
those  points  set  a  strong  and  wakeful  guard. 

There  are  certain  individuals  with  whom  you  can- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  3H 

Companions.  Conversation. 

not  associate,  with  whom  you  cannot  spend  an  hour, 
without  hearing  things  said,  and  receiving  impressions, 
which  tend  to  lower  your  standard  of  honorable  feel- 
ing, and  of  purity  of  heart.  Their  society  may,  in 
many  respects,  be  enchanting,  their  conversation  be- 
witching, while,  at  the  same  time,  there  may  be  a 
subtle  poison  which  will  gradually  destroy  your  moral 
sense.  You  love  to  walk  with  some  of  these ;  you 
love  to  visit  them  in  their  rooms ;  and  you  hope  you 
may  have  some  good  influence  upon  them.  Perhaps 
you  will  have ;  but  the  danger  is  all  on  your  side. 
The  impressions  which  the  soul  receives,  and  the 
modes  of  feeling  into  which  the  heart  is  gradually  led, 
will  not  be  likely  to  startle  you  at  first,  even  though 
their  end  is  moral  death.  How  can  you  hope  to 
strengthen  your  moral  habits,  and  grow  in  character, 
if  you  frequently  yield  to  the  temptation  of  conversa- 
tion which  deadens  the  moral  sensibilities  ?  Here  is 
one  plain  temptation ;  and  the  way  to  grow  in  purity 
of.  heart  is,  not  to  frequent  such  company,  and  there 
try  to  throw  some  feeble  influence  in  favor  of  virtue, 
and  then  go  away,  and  lament  and  pray  over  the  in- 
stances in  which  you  yielded  to  temptation;  but 
keep  clear  of  the  danger ;  break  off  from  all  asso- 
ciates whose  influence  is  against  the  great  object  of 
disciplining  the  heart. 

Some  sins  meet  you  at  particular  seasons.     For 
example,  you  notice  that,  after  study,  or  after  tea,  or 


312  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

t 

Particular  seasons.  Particular  associations. 

at  some  particular  hour  of  the  day,  you  have  less 
patience  than  usual.  You  are  inclined  to  be  irritable, 
or  you  are  low  in  spirits.  You  are  in  danger  of  cul- 
tivating a  bad  habit  of  feeling  and  speaking,  and  of 
trying  the  temper  of  others.  Here  you  are  beset  at 
a  particular  time  of  the  day  ;  set  a  watch  over  your- 
self, and  avoid  the  danger.  You  can  easily  see  the 
rock,  for  it  is  above  the  waves. 

At  some  particular  time  of  the  day,  or  in  some 
particular  situations,  you  find  yourself  exposed  to  de- 
basing and  corrupting  thoughts.  They  fill  the  mind 
and  crowd  out  every  thing  that  is  good.  These  asso- 
ciations arise  only  when  you  are  alone,  or  when  you 
are  conversing  on  some  particular  topics,  or  when 
something  is  recalled  by  the  memory.  Can  you  hope 
to  conquer  these  legions,  and  drive  away  all  these  un- 
clean birds,  by  any  other  means  than  by  fleeing  from 
them?  As  there  are  some  demons  which,  it  is  said, 
cannot  be  cast  out  except  by  prayer  and  fasting,  so 
these  can  be  overcome  only  by  avoiding  and  resist- 
ing them,  when  they  approach  the  heart,  and  by  the 
most  sincere  prayer  when  they  have  once  entered  it. 

Suppose  you  were  attempting  to  grow  in  moral 
character  and  worth,  and  yet  should,  now  and  then, 
indulge  yourself  in  reading  a  bad  book.  The  book 
seems  to  have  fallen  into  your  hand  by  accident. 
You  do  not  often  read  it,  but  sometimes  look  into  it ; 
or,  if  you  do  not  own  it,  some  one  may,  who  offers  to 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  313 

Vile  reading.  Little  failings. 

loan  it  to  you.  Here  is  a  temptation  thrown  before 
you.  You  may  never  know  what  that  book  contains, 
if  you  do  not  now  learn  it ;  and  should  you  not  know 
what  such  books  contain,  in  order  to  warn  others 
against  their  influence  ?  I  reply,  Beware ;  and  yield 
not  to  this  temptation.  One  yielding,  when  thus 
tempted,  may  be  your  ruin ;  or,  if  it  be  not,  it  will 
take  you  a  long  time  to  recover  from  the  mischiefs 
which  you  are  bringing  upon  yourself.  Temptations 
should  be  met  at  a  distance :  if  you  see  the  bird  once 
gaze  upon  the  serpent,  she  begins  to  fly  round  and 
round,  and  at  every  revolution  coming  nearer  and 
nearer,  till  she  falls  into  the  mouth  of  the  devourer. 

You  have  what  are  usually  called  "  failings,"  or 
"  little  failings."  By  a  proper  attention  and  study 
of  yourself,  you  can  know  what  these  are ;  but  if 
you  find  any  difficulty  in  discovering,  you  have  only 
to  ask  your  near  neighbor,  and  he  will  name  many 
which  you  never  had  claimed  as  yours.  Now,  what 
are  these  failings,  except  places  at  which  you  are  con- 
stantly yielding  to  .temptations  ?  And  how  can  you 
hope  to  cure  yourself  of  them,  except  by  avoiding 
them  ?  Suppose  you  are  naturally  of  a  turn  of  mind 
which  is  bold,  impetuous,  and  forward.  It  leads  you 
to  make  remarks  that  are  rash,  and  to  do  things  which 
you  ought  not.  Should  you  not  avoid  every  tempta- 
tion to  it  ?  If  Peter  be  naturally  impetuous,  and  in 
danger  of  striking  at  the  first  head  which  he  meets, 


314  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Natural  temperament.  Beware  of  temptations  to  which  you  incline. 

ought  he  not  to  leave  his  sword  behind  him  ?  You 
may  be  of  such  a  temperament,  that  all  company  ex- 
cites your  animal  spirits,  and  you  are  so  easily  elated, 
that  you  lose  your  balance  at  the  time,  and  have  an 
equal  degree  of  depression  following  it.  In  this  case, 
are  you  wise  to  allow  yourself  to  run  into  temptation? 
Suppose  a  man  have  an  innate  propensity  to  be  dis- 
honest, so  that  he  can  hardly  touch  the  property  of 
others  without  appropriating  something  of  it  to  him- 
self; can  he  hope  to  clear  his  hands  and  his  heart  so 
long  as  he  continues  in  the  place  of  temptation  ? 
Should  Judas  carry  the  bag,  when  he  has  fully  proved 
to  himself  that  he  cannot  do  it  without  stealing  from 
it  ?  Should  a  passionate  man,  whose  temper  is  easily 
excited,  throw  himself  in  situations  in  which  he  will 
certainly  be  tempted  to  anger  ?  Whatever  be  your 
weakness,  or  the  spot  at  which  you  fall,  beware  of  it, 
and  shun  it.  I  once  knew  a  gifted  young  man,  who, 
in  very  early  life,  had  indulged  a  love  for  ardent 
spirit,  which  was  almost  fatal.  Under  the  influence 
of  conscience  and  religion,  he  finally  conquered  him- 
self, and  for  years  did  not  taste  a  di'op.  In  a  con- 
versation with  him  on  the  subject,  he  told  me  that  so 
strong  was  his  appetite,  that,  even  then,  the  sight  of 
a  decanter  was  painful ;  and  that,  whenever  he  heard 
liquor  running  from  the  cask  in  a  store,  he  immedi- 
ately ran  out  as  fast  as  possible,  whether  his  errand 
was  or  was  not  done.  His  safety  was  only  in  flying. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  315 

Fourth  suggestion.  Example  of  a  subdued  temper. 

So  it  is  in  regard  to  any  temptation.  The  best  way 
to  overcome  sin,  is  to  flee  from  its  approach.  He 
.who  tampers  with  a  temptation  is  already  under  its 
power.  The  lion  will  frequently  let  his  victim  move, 
and  will  play  with  it  before  he  crushes  it. 

4.   Watch  over  your  temper. 

There  is  much  said  about  the  natural  disposition  and 
temper  of  men ;  and  the  fact,  that  any  one  has  a  tem- 
per which  is  unhappy  and  unpleasant,  is  both  account- 
ed and  apologized  for,  by  saying  that  his  temper  is 
"naturally"  unpleasant.  It  is  a  comfortable  feeling 
to  lay  as  much  blame  upon  nature  as  we  can  ;  but  the 
difficulty  is,  that  the  action,  to  use  a  law  term,  will  not 
lie.  No  one  has  a  temper  naturally  so  good  that  it 
does  not  need  attention  and  cultivation ;  and  no  one 
has  a  temper  so  bad,  but  that,  by  proper  culture,  it 
may  become  pleasant.  One  of  the  best-disciplined 
tempers  ever  seen  was  that,  of  a  gentleman  who  was, 
naturally,  quick,  irritable,  rash,  and  violent ;  but,  by 
having  the  care  of  the  sick,  and  especially  of  deranged 
people,  he  so  completely  mastered  himself,  that  he 
was  never  known  to  be  thrown  off  his  guard.  The 
difference  in  the  happiness  which  is  received  or  bestow- 
ed by  the  man  who  guards  his  temper,  and  that  by  the 
man  who  does  not,  is  immense.  There  is  no  misery 
so  constant,  so  distressing,  and  so  intolerable  to  others, 
as  that  of  having  a  disposition  which  is  your  master, 
and  which  is  continually  fretting  itself.  There  are 


316  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Temper  may  be  cultivated.        Roger  Sherman.        His  patience. 

corners  enough,  at  every  turn  in  life,  against  which  we 
may  run,  and  at  which  we  may  break  out  in  impa- 
tience, if  we  choose.  '  • . 
No  one  can  have  an  idea  of  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived from  a  constant  supervision  and  cultivation  of  the 
temper,  till  he  try  them ;  not  that  you  will  certainly  cul- 
tivate the  moral  feelings,  if  the  temper  be  subdued ;  but 
you  certainly  will  not,  if  it  be  not  subdued. .  Few  men 
ever  had,  naturally,  a  more  unmanageable  disposition 
than  he  who,  at  forty,  frequently  appears  among  the 
most  amiable  of  men.  Look  at  Roger  Sherman.  He 
made  himself  master  of  his  temper,  and  cultivated  it 
as  a  great  business  in  life.  There  are  one  or  two  in- 
stances which  show  this  part  of  his  character  in  a  light 
that  is  beautiful.  He  was,  one  day,  after  having  re- 
ceived his  highest  honors,  sitting  and  reading  in  his 
parlor.  A  roguish  student,  in  a  room  close  by,  held 
a  looking-glass  in  such  a  position  as  to  pour  the  re- 
flected rays  of  the  sun  directly  in  Mr.  Sherman's  face. 
He  moved  his  chair,  and  the  thing  was  repeated.  A 
third  time  the  chair  was  moved,  but  the  looking-glass 
still  poured  the  sun  in  his  eyes.  He  laid  aside  his 
book,  went  to  the  window,  and  many  witnesses  of  the 
impudence  expected  to  hear  the  ungentlemanly  stu- 
dent severely  reprimanded.  He  raited  the  window 
gently,  and  then — shut  the  window-blind !  I  can- 
not forbear  adducing  another  instance  of  the  power 
which  he  had  acquired  over  himself. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  317 

Remarkable  example  of  a  subdued  temper. 

"  He  was  naturally  possessed  of  strong  passions ; 
but  over  these  he  at  length  obtained  an  extraordinary 
control.  He  became  habitually  calm,  sedate,  and  self- 
possessed.  Mr.  Sherman  was  one  of  those  men  who 
are  not  ashamed  to  maintain  the  forms  of  religion  in 
his  family.  One  morning,  he  called  them  together,  as 
usual,  to  lead  them  in  prayer  to  God ;  the  '  old  fam- 
ily Bible'  was  brought  out  and  laid  on  the  table. 
Mr.  Sherman  took  his  seat,  and  beside  him  placed 
one  of  his  children,  a  small  child — a  child  of  his  old 
age ;  the  rest  of  the  family  were  seated  round  the 
room;  several  of  these  were  now  grown  up.  Be- 
sides these,  some  of  the  tutors  of  the  college  were 
boarders  in  the  family,  and  were  present  at  the  time 
alluded  to.  His  aged  and  now  superannuated  mother 
occupied  a  corner  of  the  room,  opposite  the  place 
where  the  distinguished  judge  of  Connecticut  sat.  At 
length,  he  opened  the  Bible  and  began  to  read.  The 
child,  which  was  seated  beside  him,  made  some  little 
disturbance,  upon  which  Mr.  Sherman  paused,  and  told 
It  to  be  still.  Again  he  proceeded ;  but  again  he  paus- 
ed, to  reprimand  the  little  offender,  whose  playful  dis- 
position would  scarcely  permit  it  to  be  still.  At  this 
time,  he  gently  tapped  its  ear.  The  blow,  if  it  might 
be  called  a  blow,  caught  the  attention  of  his  aged 
mother,  who  now,  with  some  effort,  rose  from  her 
seat,  and  tottered  across  the  room.  At  length,  she 
reached  the  chair  of  Mr.  Sherman,  and,  in  a  moraenfe 


318         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Example  continued.  Necessity  of  attending  to  the  temper. 

most  unexpected  to  him,  she  gave  him  a  blow  on  the 
ear,  with  all  the  power  she  could  summon.  '  There,' 
said  she,  'you  strike  your  child,  and  I  tvill  strike 
mine ! ' 

"  For  a  moment,  the  blood  was  seen  rushing  to  the 
face  of  Mr.  Sherman ;  but  it  was  only  for  a  moment, 
when  all  was  calm  and  mild  as  usual.  He  paused — 
he  raised  his  spectacles — he  cast  his  eye  upon  his 
mother — again  it  fell  upon  the  book,  from  which  he 
had  been  reading.  Not  a  word  escaped  him;  but 
again  he  calmly  pursued  the  service,  and  soon  after 
sought,  in  prayer,  an  ability  to  set  an  example  before 
his  household,  which  should  be  worthy  of  their  imita- 
tion. Such  a  victory  was  worth  more  than  the  proud- 
est victory  ever  achieved  in  the  field  of  battle." 

Suppose,  at  the  close  of  the  day,  as  you  look  back 
upon  what  you  have  done  and  said,  you  see  that, 
in  one  instance,  you  answered  a  companion  short 
and  tartly ;  in  another,  you  broke  out  in  severe  in- 
vective upon  one  who  was  absent;  in  another,  you 
were  irritated  and  vexed  at  some  trifle,  though  you 
kept  it  to  yourself,  and  felt  the  corrosions  of  an  ill 
temper  without  betraying  your  feelings,  otherwise  than 
by  your  countenance.  Can  you  now  look  back  upon 
the  day  with  any  degree  of  comfort?  Can  you  feel 
that  you  have  made  any  advancement  in  subduing 
yourself,  so  that  you  can  look  at  yourself  with  cheer- 
fulness and  respect,  during  this  day  ?  And  if  this  be 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  319 

Example  oPSir  Walter  Raleigh. 

so,  from  day  to  day,  and  from  week  to  week,  can  you 
expect  that  your  heart  will  be  more  and  more  sub- 
dued ?  You  may  be  sure,  that  no  one,  who  so  gives 
way  to  his  temper,  during  every  day,  that,  at  night,  he 
has  to  reproach  himself  for  it,  can  be  growing  in  moral 
excellence. 

You  need  not  be  discouraged  in  your  attempts  to 
correct  a  quick,  an  irritable  and  a  bad  temper,  even 
though,  at  first,  unsuccessful.  Success,  on  this  point, 
will  certainly  follow  exertion.  It  is  one  mark  of  a 
great,  as  well  as  a  good  man,  to  have  a  command  over 
the  temper.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  challenged  by 
a  hot-headed  young  man ;  and,  because  he  coolly  re- 
fused to  fight,  the  young  man  proceeded  to  spit  in  his 
face,  in  public.  Sir  Walter  took  his  handkerchief, 
and,  calmly  wiping  his  face,  merely  made  this  reply : — 
"  Young  marj,  if  I  could  as  easily  wipe  your  blood 
from  my  conscience  as  I  can  this  injury  from  my  face, 
I  would  this  moment  take  away  your  life."  The  great 
Dr.  -Boerhaave  was  always  unmoved  by  any  provo- 
cation, though  the  practice  of  medicine  is  by  no  means 
well  calculated  to  soothe  the  nerves.  Upon  being 
asked  how  he  obtained  such  a  mastery  over  himself,  he 
stated,  that  "  he  was  naturally  quick  of  resentment,  but 
that  he  had,  by  daily  prayer  and  meditation,  at  length 
attained  to  this  mastery  over  himself." 

You  will  have  strong  temptations  to  irritability  of 
temper ;  for  it  is  impossible  to  be  a  student,  and  not 


320         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Irritability  of  the  temper.  Fifth  suggestion. 

have  the  system  in  such  a  state  that  little  vexations 
will  jar  upon  your  nerves.  But  the  indulgence 
of  such  a  temper  will  not  merely  mar  your  present 
peace,  injure  you  in  the  eyes  of  all  who  know  you, 
hurt  your  usefulness,  hasten  on  a  premature  old  age, 
but  it  is  fatal  to  that  peace  of  mind  which  consists  in 
"  a  pure  conscience."  The  heart  sickens  in  despond- 
ency, when,  at  the  close  of  the  day,  you  go  to  the 
closet  and  have  to  reflect,  that  your  temper  is  still  un- 
subdued ;  and  that,  while  you  ought  to  be  above  being 
moved  by  the  little  troubles  which  meet  you,  they 
constantly  oppress  you.  If  you  now  have  no  more  of 
character  than  to  give  way  to  your  disposition,  while 
in  the  retirement  of  the  study,  what  will  you  do  when 
the  multiplied  vexations  of  active  life  come  upon  you  ? 

5.  Be  careful  to  improve  your  thoughts  when 
alone. 

There  will  be  seasons  recurring  frequently,  when 

. 

you  must  be  alone.  You  will  walk  alone,  or  you 
will  sit  in  the  evening  shade  alone,  or  you  will  lie 
on  a  sleepless  pillow  alone.  Every  student  ought 
not  only  to  expect  this,  but  to  desire  it ;  and  never,  if 
faithful  to  himself,  need  he  be  less  alone  than  when 
alone.  The  appetites  and  passions  are  so  apt  to  ram- 
ble, that  we  esteem  him  to  be  good  at  self-government 
who  subdues  them ;  but  the  thoughts  are  but  little  be- 
hind in  giving  the  conscientious  man  trouble.  The 
two  difficulties  which  will  meet  you  most  constantly, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  321 

Improvement  of  thoughts  when  alone.  Cautions. 

are,  to  keep  the  thoughts  from  wandering,  and  from 
wandering  in  forbidden  paths.  What  is  vain  and  vis- 
ionary will  easily  steal  in  upon  you  when  alone,  and 
you  will  soon  become  a  most  wretched  companion  to 
yourself,  and  your  own  tempter.  You  can  easily  get 
into  the  habit  of  looking  back,  and  recalling  what  you 
have  read  or  studied,  and  -examining  what  way-marks 
you  have  put  up,  or  of  reviving  the  memory  of  informa- 
tion an'd  knowledge  which  you  have  received  by  con- 
versation ;  but  if  you  do  not  cultivate  this  habit,  there 
will  be  one  at  your  elbow  ever  ready  to  enter  the 
heart  and  become  the  strong  man  of  the  house.  The 
memory  and  the  judgment  may  both  be  cultivated  by 
employing  your  thoughts  upon  whatever  you  have 
been  studying  or  reading  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours. 
Your  process  will  be,  first,  to  recall  any  thing  valuable 
which  you  have  met  with,  and  then  classify  it,  and 
weigh  it,  and  judge  as  to  the  occasions  in  which  you 
may  wish  to  use  it. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  practice  of  building  castles  in 
the  air, — a  practice  which  will  be  very  apt  to  steal  in 
upon  you  till  it  becomes  a  regular  habit,  unless  you 
are  very  careful.  You  can  hardly  be  too  solicitous  to 
keep  clear  of  this  habit.  I  have  also  spoken  of  worse 
results  of  permitting  the  thoughts  to  wander  when 
alone, — evils  which  want  a  name,  to  convey  any  con- 
ception of  their  enormity. 
21 


322  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Advantages  of  being  alone.  The  future  to  be  anticipated. 

There  are  many  great  advantages  in  taking  frequent 
opportunities  of  employing  your  thoughts  alone. 

The  mind  and  feelings  are  soothed  by  the  pro- 
cess ;  and  this  is  an  object  every  way  desirable.  Who 
can  rush  into  the  responsibilities,  the  anxieties,  and 
the  labors  of  the  student  without  strong  excitement  ? 
Who  can  see  the  field  of  knowledge  continually  and 
boundlessly  opening  before  him,  with  multitudes  who, 
like  himself,  have  staked  their  character,  hopes  and 
happiness  upon  success,  ready  to  compete  with  him, 
without  having  the  excitement  continually  increasing 
and  growing  upon  him  ?  There  will  be  little  disap- 
pointments frequently,  little  trials,  mistakes,  which 
harass  and  vex  you  beyond  measure.  You  need  sea- 
sons of  meditation,  by  which  the  feelings  become 
soothed  and  softened,  and  the  judgment  rendered 
clear  and  decided. 

The  future  lies  before  you.  It  will  come — it  will 
bring  changes  to  you ;  some  of  them  will  be  severe 
and  heavy  to  bear.  There  will  be  sorrows  and  dis- 
appointments in  your  progress.  You  need  to  anti- 
cipate the  future,  so  far  as  you  can  do  it  by  sitting 
down  and  looking  calmly  at  the  possible  events  which 
may  be  before  you.  He  who  never  looks  out  and  an- 
ticipates a  storm,  will  be  but  poorly  prepared  to  meet 
it  when  it  comes.  I  do  not  mean  that  you  should  go 
into  the  future,  and  there  take  a  possible  calamity,  and 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL  323 

Yourself  your  own  teacher. 

then  grapple  with  it  as  with  your  destiny,  and  thus 
mentally  endure  evils  which  probably  will  never 
come ;  for  no  one  is  likely  to  hit  upon  the  real  evils 
which  will  overtake  him ;  but  I  mean  that  the  thought- 
less man,  who  never  communes  with  himself,  is  the 
man  who  meets  troubles  with  the  least  resignation. 

You  have  plans,  too,  for  the  future,  which  need  to 
be  laid  in  your  own  bosom  first — matured  there — re- 
viewed there  till  they  are  perfected,  under  all  the 
light  which  frequent  contemplations  can  throw  upon 
them.  Your  thoughts,  while  alone,  are  the  best 
instruments  with  which  to  ripen  the  fruit  of  future 
exertions. 

Some  are  afraid  of  themselves,  and  dread  few  things 
more  than  to  find  themselves  alone.  Every  thought 
of  the  past  or  of  the  future  only  discourages;  and 
they  can  be  comfortable  only  by  forgetting  themselves. 
But  this  is  not  wise.  Were  it  possible  for  a  friend  to 
whisper  all  your  failings,  deficiencies  and  faults  into 
your  ear,  without  wounding  your  feelings,  and  caus- 
ing you  to  revolt  under  the  discipline,  it  would  be  an 
invaluable  blessing  to  you.  What  such  a  friend  might 
do,  you  can  do  for  yourself,  by  your  thoughts,  when 
alone,  and  that  without  any  mortification.  A  man  can 
thus  be  his  own  teacher,  and,  after  repeated  trials, 
can  weigh  his  actions,  conduct  and  character  very 
accurately. 

He  who  does  not  know  himself,  will  never  be  ready 


124  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Study  your  own  character.  You  will  find  deficiencies.          t  s 

so  to  make  allowances  for  others,  as  to  be  greatly  be- 
loved. He  will  be  in  danger  of  being  harsh  and  cen- 
sorious. While  he  who  is  in  the  habit  of  measuring 

—        "  O 

himself,  in  the  cool  moments  of  retirement,  will  sel- 
dom fail  of  knowing  so  much  of  himself  that  he  will 
regard  with  tenderness  the  failings  of  others.  In 
studying  your  own  character,  you  have  a  wide  field 
opening  before  you.  You  will  fail  of  doing  yourself 
any  good,  if,  in  looking  at  yourself,  you  do  not  make 
it  your  determination  faithfully  to  reprove  yourself  for 
your  failings  and  faults.  Mark  the  places  where  you 
trip,  and  be  sure  to  shun  them  the  next  time.  Note 
every  instance  in  which  you  trespassed  upon  the  kind- 
ness, the  feelings,  or  the  rights  of  others;  and  in  all 
cases  in  which  you  have  failed  to  observe  the  golden 
rule,  reprove  yourself  with  due  severity,  and  see  that 
you  amend*  You  will  find  that,  at  some  particular 
places,  you  have  shown  a  heart  that  was  selfish  or 
wanton — a  temper  that  was  revengeful  and  unkind — a 
spirit  that  was  jealous,  or  envious,  or  malicious — a  self- 
^iceit  that  was  unpleasant — or  a  positiveness  that  re- 
quired others  to  acknowledge  your  infallibility.  No 
one  can  be  alone,  and  look  over  his  character,  and  the 
manifestations  of  that  character,  long,  without  seeing 
numerous  deficiencies,  and  marking  many  places,  at 
which  he  will  set  a  guard  in  future. 

One  of  the  best  criterions  by  which  to  judge  of  your 
character,  is,  to  examine  the  characters  of  those  of 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  325 

No  other  way  but  meditation  to  correctly  understand  the  divine  character. 

whose  society  you  are  especially  fond.  You  will  be 
more  intimate  with  some  than  with  others.  They  will 
be  more  likely  to  flatter  you  ;  and  no  better  index  can 
ever  be  found  to  a  man's  real  character,  than  those 
who  are  his  flatterers.  If  you  can  discover — and  who 
cannot,  if  he  tries? — who  are  most  frequently  flatter- 
ing you,  it  will  be  easy  for  you  to  see  where  you 
stand.  In  no  moral  excellence  will  you  be  likely  to 
be  above  those  who  pay  for  your  company  by  their 
flatteries.  You  can,  in  this  way,  most  accurately 
know  the  state  of  your  heart ;  and  in  your  hours  of 
meditation  you  will  be  unwise  to  neglect  to  submit 
your  life  to  this  ordeal. 

By  attention  to  your  thoughts  when  alone,  you  can  ob- 
tain what  can  in  no  other  situation  be  obtained — definite 
and  correct  views  of  the  character  of  God.  No  read- 
ing, or  preaching,  or  conversation,  can  ever  give  you 
clear  conceptions  on  this  great  subject,  without  medi- 
tation. From  our  infancy  we  hear  the  character  of 
God  described ;  we  read  the  descriptions  of  his  charac- 
ter in  his  word ;  but,  after  all,  we  are  not  likely  to  at- 
tach correct  and  precise  ideas  to  this  language,  unless 
we  reflect  much  alone.  On  other  subjects  it  is  not  so. 
If,  from  your  infancy,  you  should  hear  the  character- 
istics of  a  steam-engine  described,  as  you  grew  up, 
your  ideas  would  become  definite  and  settled  by  ex- 
perience. You  would  see  the  engine  frequently,  or 


326  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Sixth  suggestion.  Daily  reading  the  word  of  God. 

converse  with  those  who  had  seen  it.  But  our  con- 
ceptions of  the  character  of  our  Maker  do  not  become 
definite  hy  experience.  The  same  terms  may  convey 
wrong  impressions,  all  the  way  through  life,  if  we 
never  make  this  the  subject  of  meditation.  Let  my 
young  reader  try  it,  and  he  will  find  that  a  single  hour 
of  close  thought  alone  will  give  him  views  of  the 
character  of  God  which  are  more  definite,  clear,  and 
satisfactory,  than  any  thing  of  which  he  has  ever 
made  trial. 

6.  Be  in  the  daily  practice  of  reading  the  word  of 
God. 

The  whole  journey  of  life  is  a  continued  series  of 
checks,  disappointments,  and  sorrows.  In  other 
words,  all  the  dealings  of  Providence  towards  us  are 
designed  for  the  purposes  of  moral  discipline.  On  no 
other  supposition  can  we  reconcile  his  dealings  with 
his  infinite  benevolence,  or  feel  resigned  in  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  we  are  frequently  placed.  But 
those  views  of  God,  and  of  ourselves,  which  are  essen- 
tial to  our  peace,  and  discipline  of  heart,  are  to  be 
found  only  in  the  word  of  God.  I  have  often  been 
struck  with  a  passage  in  the  Travels  of  the  cele- 
brated Mungo  Park,  describing  his  situation  and  feel- 
ings when  alone  in  the  very  heart  of  Africa.  "  Which- 
ever way  I  turned,  nothing  appeared  but  danger  and 
difficulty.  I  saw  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  wil- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  327 

Mungo  Park. 

derness,  in  the  depth  of  the  rainy  season,  naked  and 
alone,  surrounded  by  savage  animals,  and  men  still 
more  savage.  I  was  five  hundred  miles  from  the  near- 
est European  settlement.  All  these  circumstances 
crowded  at  once  on  my  recollection,  and  I  confess 
that  my  spirits  began  to  fail  me.  I  considered  my 
fate  as  certain,  and  that  I  had  no  alternative  but  to  lie 
down  and  perish.  The  influence  of  religion,  however, 
aided  and  supported  me.  I  recollected  that  no  human 
prudence  or  foresight  could  have  arrested  my  present 
sufferings.  I  indeed  was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land ; 
yet  I  was  still  under  the  protecting  eye  of  that  Provi- 
dence who  has  condescended  to  call  himself  the  stran- 
ger's friend.  At  this  moment,  painful  as  my  reflections 
were,  the  extraordinary  beauty  of  a  small  moss  in 
fructification  irresistibly  caught  my  eye.  I  mention 
this  to  show  from  what  trifling  circumstances  the  mind 
will  sometimes  derive  consolation ;  for,  though  the 
whole  plant  was  not  larger  than  the  top  of  one  of  my 
fingers,  I  could  not  contemplate  the  delicate  conforma- 
tion of  its  roots,  leaves,  and  capsula,  without  admiration. 
Can  that  Being,  thought  I,  who  planted,  watered,  and 
brought  to  perfection,  in  this  obscure  part  of  the 
world,  a  thing  which  appears  of  so  small  importance, 
look  with  unconcern  upon  the  situation  and  sufferings 
of  creatures  formed  after  his  own  image  ?  Surely  not. 
Reflections  like  these  would  not  allow  me  to  despair. 
I  started  up,  and,  disregarding  both  hunger  and  fatigue, 


328  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

Two  revelations  from  heaven.          A  parallel  between  them. 

travelled  forwards,  assured  that  relief  was  at  hand ;  and 
I  was  not  disappointed." 

This  is  a  touching  incident  in  the  life  of  a  brave 
man,  and  is  beautifully  expressed.  But  let  us  notice 
the  fact  that  God  has  made  two  distinct  revelations 
of  -himself  to  this  world,  each  of  which  is  perfect  in 
its  kind.  The  one  is  by  his  works, — so  clearly  re- 
vealing his  eternal  power  and  Godhead  in  these,  that 
the  very  heathen  are  inexcusable  for  not  worshipping 
him.  The  heavens,  the  earth,  all  his  works,  even  to 
the  little  "  moss  "  which  lifts  its  humble  head  in  the 
sands  of  the  desert,  unite  in  teaching  his  wisdom,  his 
power,  and  his  goodness.  And  it  was  very  natural 
for  Park  thus  to  gain  confidence  and  instruction  from 
this  microscopic  forest,  planted  and  watered  by  an  un- 
seen hand  ;  but  1  am  confident,  that,  had  he,  at  the 
same  time,  looked  at  the  other  revelation  which  Qod 
has  made,  and  drawn  from  the  Bible,  he  would  have 
.had  a  confidence  still  stronger,  and  even  joy  in  again 
committing  himself  to  One  who  suffers  not  the  spar- 
row to  fall  without  his  special  direction.  In  the  nine- 
teenth Psalm  is  a  beautiful  parallel  drawn  between 
these  two  revelations  of  heaven,  and  the  superiority 
of  the  written  most  decidedly  extolled.  The  monarch 
of  Israel  seems  to  have  been  walking  on  the  top  of 
his  palace,  on  one  of  those  clear,  delightful  evenings 
which  hang  over  Palestine,  and  contemplating  the 
works  of  his  Maker.  He  breaks  out  in  praise,  declar- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  329 

Inspired  eulogy.  Uninspired  eulogy. 

ing  that  the  heavens  and  the  starry  firmament  beam 
out  the  glory  of  God ;  and  looking  down  upon  the 
earth,  he  says  that  every  day  speaks  to  the  one  that 
is  to  follow  it,  and  every  night  to  its  successor — de- 
claring the  character  of  God  ;  and  though  no  speech 
is  heard,  and  no  language  is  uttered  by  the  works  of 
God,  yet  they  reveal  him  through  all  the  earth,  wher- 
ever the  sun  shines.  He  then  seems  to  forget  all  the 
brightness  of  the'  heavens  and  the  glories  of  earth  as 
he  turns  away  to  the  word  of  God; — that  better  revela- 
tion of  himself.  His  harp  rises  in  its  strains  as  he  cel- 
ebrates that ;  for  here  is  a  revelation  which  is  perfect, 
complete,  reaching  the  soul,  commending  itself  to  the 
conscience,  gladdening  the  heart,  enlightening  the  un- 
derstanding, enduring  in  its  effects  upon  the  soul,  grat- 
ifying the  taste,  and,  beyond  all,  restraining  from  sin 
and  purifying  the  heart.  This  spontaneous  burst  of 
the  sweet  singer  of  Israel  is  probably  the  most  per- 
fect eulogy  upon  the  word  of  God  which  the  world 
has  ever  seen. 

Perhaps  the  best  uninspired  eulogy  upon  the  Bible 
is  from  the  pen  of  that  masterly  scholar,  Sir  William 
Jones.  It  was  written  on  a  blank  page  in  his  Bible, 
and  also  inserted  in  his  eighth  Discourse  before  the 
Society  for  Asiatic  Researches.  "The  Scriptures 
contain,  independently  of  a  divine  origin,  more  true 
sublimity,  more  exquisite  beauty,  purer  morality,  more 
important  history,  and  finer  strains  both  of  poetry  and 


330         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Sir  William  Jones.  Comprehensiveness  of  Ihe  Bible. 

eloquence,  than  could  be  collected,  within  the  same 
compass,  from  all  other  books  that  were  ever  compos- 
ed in  any  age,  or  in  any  idiom.  The  two  parts  of 
which  the  Scriptures  consist,  are  connected  by  a  chain 
of  compositions,  which  bears  no  resemblance,  in  form 
or  style,  to  any  that  can  be  produced  from  the  stores 
of  Grecian,  Indian,  Persian,  or  even  Arabian  learning. 
The  antiquity  of  those  compositions  no  man  doubts ; 
and  the  unstrained  application  of  them  to  events  long 
subsequent  to  their  publication,  is  a  solid  ground  of 
belief  that  they  were  genuine  predictions,  and  conse- 
quently inspired." 

Deists  and  skeptics,  in  swarms,  have  studied  the 
revelation  of  nature,  and  professed  to  see  and  know 
God;  but  from  this  source  they  draw  no  truths  in 
which  they  can  agree,  no  precepts  which  in  any 
measure  break  the  power  of  sin  within  the  heart,  no 
consolations  which  bow  the  will  to  that  of  God  in  the 
hour  of  suffering  and  trial,  and  no  hope  that  can  sus- 
tain and  cheer  the  soul  when  she  is  called  to  feel  her 
house  shake  and  fall  in  pieces. 

"  The  Bible  resembles  an  extensive  and  highly  cul- 
tivated garden,  where  there  is  a  vast  variety  and  pro- 
fusion of  fruits  and  flowers  ;  some  of  which  are  more 
essential  or  more  splendid  than  others  ;  but  there  is 
not  a  blade  suffered  to  grow  in  it,  which  has  not  its 
use  and  beauty  in  the  system.  Salvation  for  sinners  is 
the  grand  truth  presented  every  where,  and  in  all  points 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  331 

The  Scriptures  must  be  read  daily.  Example  of  Elizabeth. 

of  light ;  but  the  pure  in  heart  sees  a  thousand  traits  of 
the  diyine  character,  of  himself,  and  of  the  world, — 
some  striking  and  bold,  others  cast,  as  it  were,  into  the 
shade,  and  designed  to  be  searched  for  and  examined, — 
some  direct,  others  by  way  of  intimation  or  inference." 

You  cannot  enjoy  the  Scriptures  unless  you  have  a 
taste  for  them  ;  and,  to  this  end,  it  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial that  you  read  them  daily.  Many  have  tried  to 
read  the  Bible,  and  were  entirely  unsuccessful.  They 
have  obtained  new  editions,  in  different  forms,  and  yet 
there  was  no  enjoyment  in  reading.  One  reason  was, 
that  they  never  were  in  the  habit  of  reading  the  Bible 
every  day  ;  and  unless  you  have  this  habit,  it  is  in  vain 
ever  to  hope  to  see  or  feel  any  of  those  excellences 
which  others  praise.  You  could  enjoy  no  study,  if 
taken  up  only  now  and  then.  Every  student  knows 
that  he  feels  interested  in  any  study  in  proportion  as  he 
continues  to  attend  to  it  day  after  day  for  some  time. 
This  is  true  of  the  mathematics,  where  the  taste  has  but 
little'to  do.  Take  up  Euclid  once  in  a  year,  and  look 
over  a  few  propositions,  and  you  feel  but  little  interest 
in  it.  Open  Shakspeare  once  in  many  months,  and 
you  read  with  no  interest ;  and  the  longer  the  inter- 
vals are  between  reading  him,  the  less  is  the  disposi- 
tion to  recur  to  him.  So  of  any  other  book. 

Perhaps  few  characters  have  ever  had  their  time 
more  fully  engrossed  with  business  than  Queen  Eliza- 
beth ;  yet  she  is  said  to  have  found  time  to  read  the 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 


Locke.  Hints  for  reading  the  Bible.  First  hint. 

Scriptures  daily,  and  to  have  acquired  a  decided  taste 
for  them.  "  I  walk,"  says  she,  "  many  times  in  the 
pleasant  fields  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  where  I  pluck 
up  the  goodlisome  herbs  of  sentences  by  pruning,  eat 
them  by  reading,  digest  them  by  musing,  and  lay  them 
up  at  length  in  the  high  seat  of  memory  by  gathering 
them  together ;  so  that,  having  tasted  their  sweetness, 
I  may  perceive  the  bitterness  of  life." 

A  little,  before  his  death,  the  great  Locke,  being 
asked  how  a  young  man  could,  "  in  the  shortest  and 
surest  way,  attain  a  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion, 
in  the  full  and  just  extent  of  it,"  made  this  'memora- 
ble reply  :  "  Let  him  study  the  Holy  Scriptures,  espe- 
cially the  New  Testament.  Therein  are  contained 
the  words  of  eternal  life.  It  has  God  for  its  author, 
salvation  for  its  end,  and  truth,  without  any  mixture  of 
error,  for  its  matter." 

I  would  not  only  most  earnestly  recommend  you  to 
read  the  Scriptures  daily,  but  would  add  a  few  hints  as 
to  the  best  method  of  doing  it. 

(1.)  Read  the  Bible  alone  in  your  retirement. 

The  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  Your  mind  will  be 
less  distracted,  the  attention  less  likely  to  be  called 
off,  your  thoughts  less  likely  to  wander.  You  can 
read  deliberately,  slowly,  understandingly,  and  with 
personal  application.  It  will  soon  become  a  delightful 
habit ;  and  you  will  shortly  greet  the  time  when  you 
are  to  be  alone  with  your  Bible,  with  as  much  interest 

«. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  333 

Second  hint — translation  to  be  used. 

as  if  you  were  to  be  with  your  dearest  earthly  friend. 
No  taste  is  so  much  improved  by  habit  and  cultivation 
as  the  taste  for  the  word  of  God.  There  is  a  con- 
densation in  language,  a  power  in  the  poetry  and  elo- 
quence of  the  Bible,  aside  from  its  moral  influence, 
which  brings  the  taste  of  the  reader  to  its  own  stand- 
ard, with  astonishing  rapidity. 

(2.)  For  all  practical  purposes  in  your  daily  read- 
ing, me  the  common  translation  of  the  Bible. 

For  accurate  and  critical  study,  the  student  will  of 
course  go  to  the  original,  and  to  commentators.  But 
to  obtain  a  general  knowledge  of  the  revelation  in  our 
hands,  and  to  cultivate  the  moral  feelings  of  the  heart, 
the  common  translation  is  incomparably  superior  to  any 
thing  else.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  obtain  such  a 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  as  you  will  obtain  by  reading  ' 
it  in  order.  I  suppose  the  word  of  God  was  given  in 
parcels,  from  time  to  time,  as  was  best  adapted  to  the 
state  of  the  world,  and  best  adapted  to  give  us  correct 
conceptions  of  the  character  and  government  of  God. 
I  would  have  one  part  of  your  time  employed  in  reading 
the  books  in  order,  going-regularly  through  the  Bible  in 
this  way  as  fast  as  your  circumstances  will  admit.  At 
another  sitting,  and  in  another  part  of  the  day,  I  would 
read  some  part  that  is  strictly  devotional,  such  as  the 
Psalms,  the  Gospels,  or  the  Prophets.  No  young 
man  can  be  too  familiar  with  the  book  of  Proverbs. 
There  is  an  amazing  amount  of  practical  wisdom 


334  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  book  of  Proverbs.  Third  hint— disposition. 

treasured  up  there ;  and  the  young  man  who  should 
have  that  at  his  command,  will  be  likely  to  do 
wisely.  All  the  proverbs  and  wise  sayings  of  the 
earth  can  bear  no  comparison  to  those  of  Solomon 
for  value ;  and  there  is  scarcely  one  of  any  value, 
the  essence  of  which  is  not  already  in  his.  I  would 
not  recommend  commentaries  of  any  kind  for  your 
daily  reading.  They  are  like  putting  crutches  under 
the  arms  of  a  man  nearly  well.  They  will  aid  him 
now  for  a  short  time,  but  will  eventually  do  injury. 
He  who  uses  a  commentator  constantly  will  soon  feel 
that  it  is  essential ;  that  the  Scriptures  contain  but  little, 
while  the  commentary  is  rich ;  and  that  he  must  rely 
upon  it  for  all  his  opinions.  What  opinions  you  have, 
will  also  leave  you  at  once ;  for  what  comes  easily, 
will  be  sure  to  go  as  easily. 

(3.)  Read  the  Scriptures  with  an  humble,  teach- 
able disposition. 

The  strongest  of  all  evidence  in  favor  of  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Bible  is  the  internal — that  which  the 
good  man  feels.  This,  indeed,  is  such  as  no  argu- 
ments of  the  infidel  can  shake.  On  other  evidence 
you  can  throw  doubts  for  a  moment,  bring  objections 
which  cannot  at  once  be  answered,  suggest  difficulties 
which  perplex ; — but  you  may  heap  difficulties  up 
like  mountain  piled  upon  mountain,  and  the  good  man 
feels  that  his  Bible  is  from  God.  This  is  just  as  you 
would  suppose  it  would  be  with  a  book  from  heaven. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  335 

Difficulties  in  reading  the  Scripture. 

But,  aside  from  this,  there  is  evidence  enough  to  crush 
every  doubt  forever.  It  is  well  to  measure  the  base 
and  examine  the  foundations  of  the  building,  if  your 
circumstances  will  allow  of  it ;  but  if  you  cannot  do  it 
just  now,  reserve  it  for  some  future  time.  But  you 
cannot  derive  good  from  the  Bible,  unless  you  have  an 
humble  mind.  A  child  might  say  that  the  sun  and 
stars  all  moved  round  the  earth ;  that  his  reason  taught 
him  so ;  and  that  it  was  befitting  that  God  should  thus 
form  the  universe.  But  the  reason  of  the  child  can- 
not decide  such  points.  You  must  not  say  that  you 
can  decide  what  and  how  much  God  ought  to  reveal. 
We  cannot  explain  or  understand  the  mysteries  which 
hang  around  every  grain  of  sand  and  every  drop  of 
water ;  much  less  can  we  expect  at  once  to  have  a 
revelation  about  a  Being  whom  no  eye  ever  saw,  and 
a  country  from  "  whose  bourne  no  traveller  "  ever  re- 
turns, without  meeting  with  difficulties  and  mysteries. 
Humility  will  teach  us  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Revela- 
tion-, and  receive  her  instructions  without  cavilling. 
Reverence  towards  the  author,  the  contents  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  our  own  everlasting  welfare,  demand 
that  we  read  with  humility.  We  must  be  docile. 
We  are  ignorant,  and  need  instruction ;  we  are  dark, 
and  need  illumination  ;  we  are  debased  by  our  passions 
and  sins,  and  need  elevating.  The  torch  of  reason 
cannot  enlighten  what  hangs  beyond  the  grave ;  the 
conjectures  of  the  imagination  only  bewilder;  and 


336  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Fourth  hint — responsibility.         Why  you  may  not  neglect  the  Scripture. 

without  receiving  the  Bible  with  the  spirit  of  a  child, 
you  will  conjecture,  and  theorize,  and  wilder,  till  you 
find  yourself  on  an  ocean  of  uncertainty,  without  a 
chart  to  guide  you,  a  compass  by  which  to  steer,  or  a 
haven  which  you  can  hope  to  make. 

(4.)  Read  the  Scriptures  under  a  constant  sense 
of  high  responsibility. 

.  If  the  book  in  your  hand  be  the  only  revelation 
which  has  been  made  to  man,  and  if  God  has  spoken 
his  mind  and  will  in  that,  then  you  have  a  standard  to 
which  you  can  at  all  times  brjng  your  conscience,  by 
which  you  can  cultivate  your  heart  and  grow  in  puri- 
ty. You  have  a  book  which  is  able  -to  fit  you  for  the 
highest  usefulness, — to  point  out  the  noblest  ends  of 
your  existence, — the  best  -method  of  attaining  those 
ends ; — which  can  soothe  you  when  the  heart  is  cor- 
roding by  vexatious  cares,  which  can  humble  you 
when  in  danger  of  being  lifted  up  by  prosperity; 
which  can  sustain  you  when  your  own  strength  is 
gone,  and  which,  after  having  led  you  as  the  star 
led  the  wise  men  of  the  East,  through  life,  will  at 
last  lead  you  to  a  world  where  the  soul  shall  live 
and  act  in  her  strength,  the  mind  be  enlarged  to  the 
utmost  of  its  capacity,  and  where  your  wishes  will 
only  be  commensurate  with  your  enjoyments.  Can 
you  neglect  this  book  without  doing  yourself  injustice? 
You  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  have  had  time  to  learn 
but  little  of  what  is  around  you ;  and  without  divine  aid, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  337 

Seventh  suggestion.  Faithful  reviewing.  Sickness. 

you  never  would  learn  what  is  the  destiny  of  your 
nature,  nor  the  path  which  lies  before  the  soul  in  the 
eternal  world ;  but  God  has  given  you  his  own  word 
to  teach,  to  direct,  and  to  sanctify  you.  If  you  have 
any  thing  of  wisdom,  you  will  read  the  Scriptures 
daily  :  if  you  do  not  do  it,  you  may  be  sure  the 
reason  is,  that  you  are  so  in  love  with  sin,  that  you 
are  unwilling  to  have  a  light  poured  upon  you  which 
would  rebuke  you. 

7.  Be  in  the  habit  of  faithfully  reviewing  your 
conduct  at  stated  seasons. 

When  these  stated  seasons  shall  be,  and  how  often 
they  shall  recur,  is  not  for  me  to  say.  But  they 
should  recur  often,  and  periodically.  A  heathen 
philosopher  strongly  urged  his  pupils  to  examine, 
every  night  before  they  slept,  what  they  had  been 
doing  that  day,  .and  so  discover  what  actions  are  wor- 
thy of  pursuit  to-morrow,  and  what  vices  are  to  be 
prevented  from  slipping  into  habits.  There  are  par- 
ticular times  when,  by  the  providences  of  God,  we 
are  especially  called  to  examine  our  conduct,  which 
are  not  periodical*  For  example,  if  the  hand  of 
sickness  has  been  laid  upon  you,  and  you  have  been 
made  to  feel  your  weakness  and  helplessness,  the 
time  of  your  sickness  and  of  your  recovery  should 
both  be  seasons  in  which  to  pause  and  hold  close 
counsel  with  your  heart.  If  you  change  places,  go 

from  home,  or  go  to  a  new  institution  for  study,  such 
22 


338  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Changes  in  circumstances.    Examination  of  the  heart  on  Sabbath  evening. 

a  change  affords  you  the  best  possible  opportunity  to 
examine  and  see  what  habits,  what  moral  delinquen- 
cies you  ought  to  change  for  the  better, — what  have 
been  the  rocks  of  temptation  on  which  you  have  split, 
—what  the  companions  who  have  led  you  astray, — 
what  the  sins  you  have  fallen  into  which  would  grieve 
your  parents,  which  have  pierced  your  own  soul  with 
sorrow,  and  which,  if  persisted   in,   will   eventually 
destroy  you  for  any  service,  in  the  holy  kingdom  of 
God.     These  changes  in  your  circumstances  ought  al- 
ways to  be  made  pausing  places,  at  which  you  faithful- 
ly review  all  your  life,  and,  with  penitence  for  the  past, 
and  new  resolutions,  set  out  for  a  better  life  in  future. 
But  these  are  not  the  periodical  times  which  I  am 
especially  urging.     At  -the  close  of  every   Sabbath, 
you  should  make  a  conscience  of  performing  the  duty, 
and  retire  and  review  the  week  which  is  now  past. 
It  is  a  good  time.     You  have  had  the  soothing  rest 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  you  are  now  one  week  nearer  the 
hour  of  dying,  and  the  hour  of  being  judged.     You 
have  had  the  advantages  of  another  week ;  now  is  the 
time  to  see  how  you  have  improved  them :  you  have 
had  another  week  in  which  to  influence  others ;  now 
is  the  time  to  see  what  that  influence  has  been:  you 
have  had  the  responsibilities  of  forming  a  character, 
under  the  highest  possible  advantages,  for  the  service 
of  God  during  the  past  week ;   now  is  the  time  to 
inquire  how  you  have  acted  under  such  responsibili- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  339 

A  help  suggested.  Use  of  dreams  upon  moral  character. 

ties.  Make  this  review  thorough,  and  be  sure  not 
to  omit  it  once.  If  you  allow  the  season  to  pass 
you  without  this  close  self-examination,  you  will  be 
likely  to  do  it  again  and  again  ;  for  there  is  no  duty 
in  all  that  pertains  to  the  discipline  of  the  heart  so 
irksome  as  that  of  self-examination.  Some  will  say 
that  they  had  rather  their  friends  would  point  out  their 
defects.  But  why  should  you  be  like  the  child  who 
asks  for  a  looking-glass  in  which  to  examine  his  hands, 
to  see  if  they  need  washing  ?  No  doubt  it  is  more 
agreeable  to  have  a  friend  to  do  this,  than  to  do  it 
yourself;  and  for  the  obvious  reason  that  you  will  see 
a  thousand  sins,  and  a  thousand  wrong  motives,  which 
his  eye  cannot  reach.  If  I  may  be  allowed  to  suggest, 
I  know  of  no  one  thing,  aside  from  the  Bible,  so  use- 
ful to  aid  in  examining  the  heart,  on  these  occasions, 
as  Buck's  Closet  Companion.  It  is  clear,  brief,  and 
to  the  point.  Every  question  is  ^searching  ;  and  he 
who  will  use  that  little  treatise  in  his  attempts  at  ex- 
amining his  heart  on  the  evening  of  the  Sabbath,  will 
not  long  fail  of  having  definite  views  of  himself,  and 
very  moderate  views  of  his  excellencies.  Such  a  sea- 
son, too,  is  exceedingly  well  fitted  to  close  the  Sab- 
bath, and  to  fasten  upon  the  soul  those  sacred  impres" 
sions  for  which  that  day  is  especially  designed. 

It  has  been  said  by  some,  that  we  can  judge  of  the 
bent  of  our  characters  by  examining  every  morning 
to  see  about  what  our  thoughts  have  been  employed 


, 

340  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Review  of  night  important. 

during  the  night,  as  it  is  supposed  we  shall,  of  course, 
when  off  our  guard  during  sleep,  go  about  the  business 
which  we  should  like  best,  if  our  inclinations  might 
be  followed.  There  may  be  some  truth  in  this,  but 
not  enough,  probably,  to  enable  you  to  make  it  any 
criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  your  character ;  for 
every  student  knows  that  a  noise  like  the  falling  of  a 
pair  of  tongs,  may  hurry  him  away  to  the  field  of 
battle ;  a  single  coverlet  too  much,  may  cause  him  to 
groan  with  a  mountain  upon  him ;  and  a  single  move- 
ment of  his  bed-fellow,  may  cause  him  to  commit 
murder — in  his  sleep.  This  much  is  generally  true  ; 
that,  if  you  have  a  troubled  night,  you  have  either 
abused  the  body  by  eating  or  drinking  too  much,  or 
tasked  the  brain  by  too  great  a  draft  upon  its  func- 
tions at  a  late  hour  at  night.  Dreams  will  at  least 
indicate  how  much  you  are  abusing  your  corporeal 
and  mental  powers. 

But  at  night — at  the  close  of  the  day,  when  you 
have  passed  through  the  day ;  have  added  it  to  the  days 
of  your  existence  on  earth ;  when  its  hours  have  fled 
to  the  judgment-seat  and  reported  all  your  doings,  all 
your  words  and  thoughts — the  day  which  must  inev- 
itably have  more  or  less  effect  in  shaping  your  destiny 
forever ; — this  is  the  season  when  you  ought  to  review, 
most  faithfully  and  most  strictly,  all  your  conduct. 
You  may  not  at  once  see  the  advantages  of  doing  so ; 
but  they  are  really  greater  than  language  can  describe. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  341 

Effects  of  the  evening  review. 

You  will  find  duties  omitted  during  the  day; — will 
not  the  examination  lead  you  to  repent  of  what  was 
wrong,  and  to  avoid  it  to-morrow?  You  will  find 
time  wasted,  an  hour  here,  and  half  an  hour  there  ; — 
will  not  the  examination  do  you  good  ?  You  will  find 
that  you  have  spoken  unadvisedly  with  your  lips, — 
that  you  have  said  what  will  wound  the  sensibilities, 
either  natural  or  moral ; — and  ought  you  not  to  know 
of  these  instances  ?  You  will  find  that  you  have 
sinned  with  the  thoughts,  and  that  you  have  spread 
out  feelings  which  the  Divine  Mind,  of  course,  must 
retain  forever,  and  which  were  vile ; — will  it  not  do 
you  good  to  recall  these  instances  ?  Perhaps  you 
have  made  one  effort  to  resist  temptation,  and  to  do 
your  duty  ; — and  it  will  cheer  you  to  recall  it.  To- 
morrow you  will  be  still  more  likely  to  be  successful. 
Every  man,  at  night,  can  tell  whether  he  has  made,  or 
squandered,  or  lost,  property  during  the  day  ;  and  so 
every  one,  by  proper  care,  can  tell  whether  he  has 
gone  backward  or  forward  in  disciplining  his  heart,  at 
the  close  of  every  day.  He  who  passes  on  for  weeks 
and  months  without  this  frequent,  faithful  review,  will 
wonder,  at  the  end  of  these  long  periods,  why  he  has 
not  grown  in  moral  character,  and  why  he  has  no 
more  confidence  in  his  hopes  for  the  future.  The 
fact  is,  we  may  live,  and  be  heathen,  under  the  full 
light  of  the  gospel,  and  perhaps,  too,  while  we  are 
cherishing  some  of  its  forms.  But  life  will  pass  from 


342  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  dying  heathen  philosopher.          Eighth  suggestion.      Daily  prayer. 

you  while  you  are  making  good  resolutions,  and 
hoping  to  do  better,  unless  you  bring  yourself  to  ac- 
count daily ;  and  when  death  shall  come  to  call  you 
away,  you  will  find  the  touching  and  affecting  lan- 
guage of  the  dying  heathen  philosopher  most  suitable 
to  your  case : — Fcede  hunc  mundum  intravi,  anxius 
vivi,  perturbatus  egredior, — causa  causarum  miserere 
mei : — "  I  was  bora  polluted,  I  have  spent  my  life 
anxiously,  I  die  with  trembling  solicitude, — O  thou 
Cause  of  causes,  have  pity  on  me."  The  pain  which 
our  deficiencies  and  sins  give  us  on  the  review,  will 
be  salutary,  desirable,  and  necessary ;  and  it  is  at  a 
fearful  hazard  that  any  one  under  as  great  responsi- 
bilities as  those  under  which  we  are  placed,  ever  re- 
tires to  rest  without  such  a  review  of  the  day  as  I  am 
recommending. 

8.  Be  in  the  habit  of  daily  prayer. 

Though  much  of  the  novelty  of  the  style  and  man- 
ner of  Johnson  has  passed  away,  yet  his  works  will 
ever  bear  the  impress  of  a  great  mind;  and  as  long 
as  the  English  language  exists,  he  will  stand  high  in 
the  estimation  of  the  student.  Yet  Johnson,  as  far  as 
he  was  from  enthusiasm,  is  found  making  use  of  an 
humble  and  beautiful  form  of  prayer  when  taking  his 
pen  to  write  a  work  which  will  be  immortal.  The  most 
distinguished  authors — such,  I  mean,  as  have  been 
the  most  widely  useful — have  always  sought  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  their  studies.  Doddridge  used 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  343 

Students  especially  need  prayer.  Excuse  of  having  no  time. 

to  observe  frequently,  "  that  he  never  advanced  well 
in  human  learning  without  prayer,  and  that  he  always 
made  the  most  proficiency  in  his  studies  when  he 
prayed  with  the  greatest  fervency."  When  exposed 
to  dangers  which  threaten  the  body,  such  as  the  perils 
of  a  journey,  the  malignant  plague,  the  storm  at  sea, 
or  the  rockings  of  the  earthquake,  no  one  esteems  it 
enthusiasm  or  weakness  to  ask  aid  and  protection 
from  God.  But  how  many  feel,  that,  when  they  sit 
down  to  study,  when  they  are  tempted  to  go  astray  in 
a  thousand  paths  of  error,  when  liable  to  have  their 
opinions,  views,  plans,  habits,  all  the  traits  of  their 
character,  wrong,  they  have  no  need  of  prayer !  The 
very  heathen  felt  so  much  need  of  aid  in  their  mental 
researches,  that  they  seldom,  if  ever,  began  a  study  or 
a  book,  without  invoking  the  aid  of  the  gods.  Surely 
the  student  who  knows  his  dependence  upon  the  true 
God,  and  who  knows  how  easily  the  mind  of  man  is 
thrown  off  from  its  balance, — how  important  it  is  that 
the  mind  be  clear,  and  all  its  powers  in  full  vigor,— 
will  not  feel  that,  as  a  student,  to  say  nothing  about  a 
higher  character  or  destiny,  he  can  do  his  duty  to 
himself  with  forming  and  cultivating  the  habit  of 
daily  prayer. 

'  I  know  that  thousands,  when  pressed  on  this  point, 
will  say  that  they  have  no  time, — their  studies  are  so 
pressing,  so  urgent,  that  they  have  neither  the  time 


344         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Hints  in  regard  to  prayer.  Regular  hours. 

nor  the  spirit  necessary  for  prayer.  I  reply,  that  it 
will  not  hinder  your  studies.  On  the  contrary,  the 
mind  will  be  calmed,  rested,  and  refreshed,  by  being 
daily  turned  off  from  your  studies  for  prayer.  Ask 
any  distinguished  man,  who  has  ever  tried  both  meth- 
ods of  study,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  he  has  been : 
prospered  in  his  studies  in  proportion  to  his  faithfulness 
in  performing  this  duty.  What  shall  be  said  of  such 
a  man  as  Andrews,  who  was  such  a  pro6cient  in 
study,  that  he  could  read  fifteen  different  languages, 
and  yet  never  spent  less  than  five  hours  daily  in  pri- 
vate devotion  ? 

You  will  find,  as  I  trust,  the  following  hints  of  ad- 
vantage to  you  in  the  performance  of  this  duty. 

(1.)  Have  regular  hours  of  prayer. 

Habit,  in  regard  to  every  duty,  is  of  the  first  im- 
portance ;  but  for  none  is  it  more  important  than  in 
regard  to  prayer.  You  cannot  walk  and  lift  your 
heart  to  God,  or  sit  in  your  room  and  do  it,  as  well 
as  to  be  retired..  The  direction  of  Christ,  to  enter 
the  closet,  was  founded  on  the  philosophy  of  human 
nature.  Have  particular  seasons,  and  when  the  hour 
arrives,  you  will  hail  it  as  that  which  is  the  most 
pleasant  in  the  whole  day.  The  return  of  the  hour 
brings  to  mind  the  duty,  which  might  otherwise  be 
crowded  out  of  mind.  System  should  be  rigidly  ad- 
hered to,  in  this  duty,  for  the  sake  of  insuring  its 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  345 

Morning  and  evening,  the  best  time  for  devotion. 

prompt  performance,  and  especially  for  the  sake  of 
enjoyment.  No  man  ever  enjoyed  his  religion  who 
had  not  regular  seasons  devoted  to  prayer. 

(2.)  These  hours  should  be  in  the  morning  and  in 
the  evening. 

In  the  morning  the  mind  is  calmed ;  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  day  have  not  beset  you ;  the  duties  of  the 
day  have  not  filled  the  mind  and  begun  to  vex  you. 
Before  you  go  to  the  duties  of  the  day,  to  its  cares, 
and  anxieties,  and  temptations,  begin  the  day  with 
prayer.  Temptations  you  certainly  will  meet ;  trials 
of  virtue  and  patience  will  overtake  you;  and  many 
times  before  night,  you  will  need  the  aid  of  your 
Father  to  shield  you.  Go  to  him,  and  ask  his  coun- 
sel to  guide  you,  his  power  to  uphold  you,  his  pres- 
ence to  cheer  you,  his  Spirit  to  sanctify  you.  Then 
will  you  have  done  what  is  equivalent  to  half  the 
duties  of  the  day,  when  you  have  thus  engaged  his 
care  and  assistance.  And  when  the  evening  comes, 
when  you  have  done  with  the  duties  of  the  day,  the 
body  is  wearied,  and  the  mind  is  jaded,  when  the 
world  is  shut  out  by  the  shades  of  night,  when  you 
come  to  look  back  and  review  the  day,  when  you  see 
how  many  deficiencies  have  marked  the  day,  how 
many  imperfections  still  cluster  around  you,  how 
many  sins  stare  you  in  the  face,  how  little  you  have 
done  for  yourself  or  for  others,  or  for  God,  the  day 


346  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Examples  of  praying  men.  Conscience  to  be  kept  pure. 

past,  then — is  the  hour  of  prayer.  It  will  be  sweet 
to  feel  that  you  have  one  to  whom  you  can  go,  and 
who  will  hear  you  ;  one  who  will  forgive  you,  if  you 
are  penitent,  and  ask  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
one  who  will  accept  your  evening  sacrifice,  and  give 
you  strength  for  the  morrow,  and  gird  you  with  his 
own  righteousness.  This  hour,  if  rightly  improved, 
will  be  like  the  cheering  countenance  of  a  most  beloved 
friend.  Take  care  that  nothing  comes  between  you 
and  these  hours  devoted  to  God.  "  Think  of  Daniel, 
prime  minister  of  Persia,  with  the  affairs  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  provinces  resting  on  his  mind,  yet 
finding  time  to  go  '  into  his  chamber,  three  times  a 
day,  that  he  might  pray  and  give  thanks  to  God.' 
Think  of  Alfred,  with  the  cares  of  monarchy  ;  of  Lu- 
ther, buffeted  by  the  storms  of  Papal  wrath  ;  of  Thorn- 
ton, encompassed  with  a  thousand  mercantile  engage- 
ments, yet  never  allowing  the  hurry  of  business  to 
intrude  ou  their  regular  hours  of  devotion." 

(3.)  Keep  your  conscience  void  of  offence  in  other 
respects,  if  you  would  enjoy  prayer. 

If  you  are  aware  of  any  sin,  be  it  what  it  may,  in 
which  you  allow  yourself,  you  may  be  sure  that  will 
ruin  your  devotional  hours.  Either  that,  or  com- 
munion with  God  must  be  relinquished,  and  certainly 
will  be.  If  you  do  not  keep  the  Sabbath ;  if  you  are 
light  and  foolish  in  conversation,  jealous  and  censo- 


,         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  347 

Excuse  of  not  being  a  Christian  examined. 

rious  upon  others,  or  given  to  the  indulgence  of  vile 
thoughts  and  practices  in  secret,  you  cannot  welcome 
the  hour  of  prayer. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  some  of  my  readers,  that  I 
urge,  this  duty  upon  them,  when  they  do  not  profess 
to  be  Christians^  or  religious  people.  But  am  I  to 
blame,  if  they  do  not  even  profess  to  wish  to  obey 
and  honor  their  God  ?  Are  they  in  any  way  above 
the  reach  of  want,  so  that  they  need  not  prayer? 
What  if  you  have  no  relish  for  prayer ;  will  neglect- 
ing the  duty  cultivate,  or  even  create,  such  a  relish  ? 
If  you  have  lived  so  long  under  the  government  of 
God,  under  all  the  advantages  which  you  have  en- 
joyed, under  all  the  responsibilities  which  have  been 
resting  upon  you,  and  still  are  living  without  prayer, 
are  you  in  the  path  of  duty  to  plead  this  neglect  of 
prayer,  as  a  reason  why  it  should  not  be  urged  upon 
you  ?  Shall  I  be  a  faithful  friend  to  admit  this  ex- 
cuse, and  to  allow,  that,  because  you  have  so  long 
tried'  to  escape  the  eye  of  God,  and  have  neither 
thanked  him  for  his  mercies  nor  asked  him  for  his 
goodness,  neither  sought  his  friendship  nor  deprecated 
his  displeasure,  you  ought  still  to  be.  left,  and  no 
warning  voice  reach  you  ?  No.  And  if  you  urge 
that  you  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of  prayer,  I  as- 
sure you  that  you  are  inexcusable ;  that  you  are  losing 
great  peace  of  mind,  and  daily  satisfaction  in  laying 
all  your  wants  and  trials  before  Him  who  can  relieve 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.' 


Pray  in  Christ's  name. 


them:  you  are  losing  those  great  principles  which 
make  character  good,  great,  and  stable,  and  you  are 
losing  opportunities  which  are  passing  away  rapidly, 
and  whose  misimprovement  will  hereafter  bring  down 
great  anguish  upon  you. 

(4.)  Offer  your  prayers  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

He  is  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man. 
He  it  is  who  sits  with  the  golden  censer  in  his  right 
hand,  and  who  ever  lives  to  intercede  for  us.  He  is 
a  great  and  a  merciful  High  Priest,  who  can  be  touch- 
ed with  a  feeling  of  our  infirmities.  We  have  no 
righteousness  of  our  own ;  we  can  have  no  confidence 
in  offering  prayer  in  our  own  names.  But  he  who 
has  most  of  the  spirit  of  Christ ;  who  comes  near 
to  him  hi  his  contemplations  and  devotions;  who  has 
the  most  exalted  views  of  the  Redeemer,  and  the 
most  abased  views  of  himself, — will  enjoy  most  at  the 
throne  of  grace.  Your  prayers  will  be  cold  unless 
they  go  from  a  heart  warmed  by  his  loVe.  Your  pe- 
titions will  not  be  fervent  unless  you  feel  your  need 
of  an  almighty  Saviour.  The  songs  which  are  the 
loudest  and  sweetest  in  heaven,  we  are  told,  are  kin- 
dled by  the  exhibitions  which  he  has  made,  of  what 
he  has  done  for  us. 

(5.)  Ask  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

When  God  directs  us  to  pray,  it  is  not  that  he  may 
sit  at  a  distance,  and,  in  tlie  coldness  of  a  sovereign 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 


Ask  for  the  Holy  Spirit. 


monarch,  hear  our  prayers,  and  receive  our  homage ; 
but  it  is,  that  we  may  draw  ourselves  near  to  him, 
as  one  in  a  boat,  with  a  boat-hook,  would  not  draw 
the  shore  to  the  boat,  but  the  boat  to  the  shore.  His 
promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  those  who  ask  him,  was 
sincere ;  and  no  gift  can  be  compared  to  this.  All 
that  is  done  for  man  in  the  way  of  calling  his  atten- 
tion to  eternal  things,  sanctifying  the  heart,  and  pre- 
paring the  soul  for  the  service  of  God  here  and  here- 
after, is  done  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  agent.  Sol- 
emn warnings  are  given  in  the  Bible  lest  we  should 
abuse  this  last,  best  gift  of  Heaven.  He  is  the  Sanc- 
tifier  to  purify  your  heart,  the  Comforter  to  sustain 
and  cheer  in  life  and  in  death.  Ask  his  assistance, 
and  you  will  be  shielded  from  temptation,  trained  for 
usefulness  here,  enlightened  in  your  views,  expan- 
sive in  your  feelings,  pure  in  your  aims,  contented 
in  your  circumstances,  peaceful  in  your  death,  and 
glorious  in  immortality  beyond  the  grave. 


CHAPTER  X.          |. 

THE  OBJECT  OF  LIFE. 

How  many  beautiful  visions  pass  before  the  mind 
in  a  single  day,  when  the  reins  are  thrown  loose,  and 
fancy  feels  no  restraints  !  How  curious,  interesting 
and  instructive  would  be  the  history  of  the  workings 
of  a  single  mind  for  a  day  !  How  many  imaginary 
joys,  how  many  airy  castles,  pass  before  it,  which  a 
single  jostle  of  this  rough  world  at  once  destroys  I 
Who  is  there  of  my  readers  who  has  not  imagined  a 
summer  fairer  than  ever  bloomed, — scenery  in  nature 
more  perfect  than  was  ever  combined  by  the  pencil, — 
abodes  more  beautiful  than  were  ever  rearedy — 
honors  more  distinguished  than  were  ever  bestowed, — 
homes' more  peaceful  than  were  ever  enjoyed,— ^-com- 
panions more  angelic  than  ever  walked  this  earth, — 
and  bliss  more  complete,  and  joys  more  thrilling  than 
were  ever  allotted  to  man  ?  You  may  call  these  the 
dreams  of  the  imagination,  but  they  are  common  to 
the  student.  To  the  man  who  lives  for  this  world 
alone,  these  visions  of  bliss,  poor  as  they  are,  are  all 
that  ever  come.  But  good  men  have  their  anticipa- 
tions— not  the  paintings  of  fancy,  but  the  realities 
tvhich  faith  discovers.  Good  men  have  the  most 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  351 

Visions  of  good  men.  Our  visions  a  test  of  character. 

vivid  conceptions.  Witness  those  of  old.  As  they 
look  down  the  vale  of  time,  they  see  a  star  arise, — 
the  everlasting  hills  do  bow,  the  valleys  are  raised, 
and  the  moon  puts  on  the  brightness  of  the  sun. 
The  deserts  and  the  dry  places  gush  with  waters. 
Nature  pauses.  The  serpent  forgets  his  fangs  ;  the 
lion  and  the  lamb  sleep  side  by  side,  and  the  hand  of 
the  child  is  on  the  mane  of  the  tiger.  Nations  gaze 
till  they  forget  the  murderous  work  of  war,  and  the 
garments  rolled  in  blood.  The  whole  earth  is  en- 
lightened, and  the  star  shines  on  till  it  brings  in  ever- 
lasting day.  Here  are  glowing  conceptions,  but  they 
are  not  the  work  of  a  depraved  imagination.  They  will 
all  be  realized.  Sin  and  death  will  long  walk  hand  in 
hand  on  this  earth,  and  their  footsteps  will  not  be  en- 
tirely blotted  out  till  the  fires  of  the  last  day  have  melt- 
ed the  globe.  But  the  head  of  the  one  is  already  bruis- 
ed, and  the  sting  is  already  taken  from  the  other. 
They  may  long  roar,  but  they  walk  in  chains,  and  the 
eye  of  faith  sees  the  hand  that  holds  the  chains. 

But  we  have  visions  still  brighter.  We  look  for 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  wherein-  dwelleth 
righteousness.  No  sin  will  be  there  to  mar  the 
beauty,  no  sorrow  to  diminish  a  joy,  no  anxiety  to 
corrode  the  .heart,  or  cloud  the  brow.  Our  charac- 
ters may  be  tested,  in  part,  by  our  anticipations.  If 
our  thoughts  and  feelings  are  running  in  the  channel 
of  time,  and  dancing  from  one  earthly  bubble  to 


352         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  youth  returning  from  a  whaling  voyage. 

another,  though  our  hopes  may  come  in  angel-robes, 
it  is  a  sad  proof  that  our  hearts  are  here  also. 

Is  there  any  thing  of  weakness  in  these  hopes  of 
good  men  ?  Are  we  not  continually  seeking  rest  for 
the  soul  ? — A  few  years  ago,  a  youth  went  up  to  the 
mast-head  of  a  large  whale-ship,  and  there  sat  down 
to  think.  He  was  the  only  child  of  his  mother,  and 
she  a  widow.  He  had  left  her  against  her  wishes  and 
remonstrances,  her  prayers  and  tears.  He  had  for 
many  years  been  roaming  over  the  seas,  and  was  now 
returning  home.  He  was  thinking  of  the  scenes  of  his 
childhood, — all  the  anxious  hours  which  he  had  cost 
that  mother, — all  the  disobedience  on  his  part,  and  that 
love  on  hers  which  no  waters  could  quench.  Would 
she  be  sleeping  in  the  grave  when  he  once  more  came 
to  her  door  ?  Does  his  home  still  look  as  it  used  to  ? 
—the  tree,  the  brook,  the  pond,  the  fields,  the  grove, 
— are  they  all  as  he  left  them?  And  his  mother, — 
would  she  receive  him  to  her  heart,  or  would  she  be 
sleeping  in  death  ?  Would  she  recognize  her  long- 
absent  boy,  and  forgive  all  his  past  ingratitude,  and 
still  love  him  with  the  unquenchable  love  of  a  moth- 
er? And  may  he  again  have  a  home,  and  no  more 
wander  among  strangers?  The  pressure  of  these 
thoughts  was  too  much.  He  wept  at  the  remem- 
brance of  his  undutifulness.  Troubles  and  hardships 
did  not  break  his  spirit,  did  not  subdue  his  proud 
heart ;  but  the  thoughts  of  home,  of  rest,  of  going 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  353 

The  dying  thought  of  Hooker.        The  world  under  an  immense  mistake. 

out  no  more,  suffering  no  more,  engrossing  the  love  of 
a  kind  parent,  melted  him.  Is  not  this  human  nature  ? 
And  is  it  weakness  in  a  good  man  to  rejoice  at  the 
thought  of  that  day,  when  death  shall  be  swallowed 
up  in  victory  ?  when  the  Lord  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears,  and  take  away  the  rebuke  of  his  people,  that 
they  may  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  his  salvation  ?  "I 
am  going,"  said  the  great  Hooker,  "  to  leave  a  world 
disordered  and  a  church  disorganized,  for  a  world  and 
a  church  where  every  angel  and  every  rank  of  an- 
gels stand  before  the  throne  in  the  very  post  God  has 
assigned  them." 

The  world,  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  have  ut- 
terly misunderstood  the  real  object  of  life  on  earth,  or 
else  he  misunderstands  it  who  follows  the  light  of 
the  Bible.  You  look  at  men  as  individuals,  and 
their  object  seems  to  be  to  gratify  a  contemptible 
vanity,  to  pervert  and  follow  their  low  appetites  and 
passions,  and  the  dictates  of  selfishness,  wherever 
they  may  lead.  You  look  at  men  in  the  aggre- 
gate, and  this  pride  and  these  passions  terminate  in 
wide  plans  of  ambition,  in  wars  aud  bloodshed,  in 
strifes  and  the  destruction  of  all  that  is  virtuous  or 
lovely.  The  history  of  mankind  has  its  pages  all 
stained  with  blood ;  and  it  is  the  history  of  a  race 
whose  object  seemed  to  be,  to  debase  their  powers, 
and  sink  what  was  intended  for  immortal  glory,  to  the 
deepest  degradation  which  sin  can  cause.  At  one 
23 


354  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

The  army  of  Xerxes.  The  crusade. 

time,  you  will  see  an  army  of  five  millions  of  men  fol- 
lowing a  leader,  who,  to  add  to  his  poor  renown,  is 
now  to  jeopardize  all  these  lives,  and  the  peace  of  his 
whole  kingdom.  This  multitude  of  minds  fall  in,  and 
they  live,  and  march,  and  fight,  and  perish,  to  aid  in  ex- 
alting a  poor  worm  of  the  dust.  What  capacities  were 
here  assembled !  What  minds  were  here  put  in  motion  ! 
What  a  scene  of  struggles  was  here !  And  who,  of 
all  this  multitude,  were  pursuing  the  real  object  of 
life  ?  From  Xerxes,  at  their  head,  to  the  lowest  and 
most  debased  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  was  there  one, 
who,  when  weighed  in  the  balances  of  eternal  truth, 
was  fulfilling  the  object  for  which  he  was  created,  and 
for  which  life  is  continued?  Look' again.  All  Eu- 
rope rises  up  in  a  phrensy,  and  pours  forth  a  living 
tide  towards  the  Holy  Land.  They  muster  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  The  cross  waves  on 
their  banners,  and  the  holy  sepulchre  is  the  watch- 
word by  day  and  night.  They  move  eastward,  and 
whiten  the  burning  sands  of  the  deserts  with  their 
bleaching  bones.  But  of  all  these,  from  the  fanatic 
whose  voice  awoke  Europe  to  arms,  down  to  the 
lowest  horse-boy,  how  few  were  actuated  by  any 
spirit  which  Heaven,  or  justice,  to  say  nothing  about 
love,  could  sanction !  Suppose  the  same  number  of 
men,  the  millions  which  composed  the  continent  which 
rose  up  to  exterminate  another,  and  who  followed  the 
man  who  was  first  a  soldier  and  then  a  priest  and 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  355 

Peter  the  Hermit.  A  wonderful  example  of  avarice. 

hermit,  and  who  has  left  the  world  in  doubt  whether  he 
was  a  prophet,  a  madman,  a  fool,  or  a  demagogue,  had 
spent  the  same  treasures  of  life,  and  of  money,  in  try- 
ing to  spread  the  spirit  of  that  Saviour  for  whose  tomb 
they  could  waste  so  much  ;  and  suppose  this  army  had 
been  enlightened  and  sanctified  men,  and  had  devot- 
ed their  powers  to  do  good  to  mankind,  and  to  honor 
their  God,  how  different  would  the  world  have  been 
found  to-day!  How  many,  think  you,  of  all  the  then 
Christian  world,  acted  under  a  spirit,  and  with  an  ob- 
ject before  them  such  as  the  world  will  approve,  and 
especially  such  as  the  pure  beings  above  us  will 
approve  ? 

Look  a  moment  at  a  few  of  the  efforts  which  ava- 
rice has  made.  For  about  four  centuries,  the  avarice 
of  man,  and  of  Christian  men  too,  has  been  preying 
upon  the  vitals  of  Africa.  It  has  taken  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Ham,  and  doomed  soul  and  body  to  de- 
basement, to  ignorance,  to  slavery.  And  what  are 
the  results  ?  Twenty-eight  millions — more  than  twice 
the  population  of  this  country — have  been  kidnapped 
and  carried  away  from  the  land  of  their  birth.  The 
estimate  is,  that  the  increase  in  the  house  of  bondage 
since  those  times,  is  five-fold,  or  nearly  one  hundred 
and  seventy  millions  of  human,  immortal  beings,  cut 
off  from  the  rights  of  man,  and,  by  legislation  and 
planning,  reduced  far  towards  the  scale  of  the  brutes. 
This  is  only  a  single  form  in  which  avarice  has  been 


356         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Ancient  kingdoms.  Experiment  of  paganism. 

exerting  its  power.  Suppose  the  same  time  and 
money,  the  same  effort,  had  been  spent  in  spreading 
the  arts  of  civilization,  learning,  and  religion,  over  the 
continent  of  Africa,  what  a  vast  amount  of  good  would 
have  been  accomplished !  And  at  the  day  when  the 
recording  angel  reads  the  history  of  the  earth,  how 
very  different  would  be  the,  picture,  and  the  eternal 
condition  of  untold  numbers !  If  the  marks  of  human- 
ity are  not  all  blotted  out  from  that  race  of  miserable 
men,  it  is  not  because  oppression  has  not  been  suffi- 
ciently legalized,  and  avarice  been  allowed  to  pursue 
its  victims,  till  the  grave  became  a  sweet  asylum. 

I  am  trying  to  lead  you  to  look  at  the  great  amount 
of  abuse  and  of  perversion  of  mind,  of  which  mankind 
are  constantly  guilty.  When  Christianity  began  her 
glorious  career,  the  world  had  exhausted  its  strength 
in  trying  to  debase  itself,  and  to  sink  low  enough  to 
embrace  paganism ;  and  yet  not  so  low,  as  not  to  try 
to  exist  in  the  shape  of  nations.  The  experiment  had 
been  repeated,  times  we  know  not  how  many.  Egypt, 
Babylonia,  Persia,  polished  Greece,  iron-footed  Rome, 
mystical  Hindooism,  had  all  tried  it.  They  spent,  each, 
mind  enough  to  regenerate  a  nation,  in  trying  to  build 
up  a  system  of  corrupt  paganism ;  and  when  that  sys- 
tem was  built  up — let  the  shape  and  form  be  what  it 
might — the  nation  had  exhausted  its  energies,  and  it 
sunk  and  fell  under  the  effects  of  misapplied  and  per- 
verted mind.  No  nation  existed  on  the  face  of  the 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  357 

The  experiment  of  the  Romish  church. 

earth,  which  was  not  crumbling  under  the  use  of  its 
perverted  energies,  when  the  gospel  reached  it.  Our 
ancestors  were  crushed  under  the  weight  of  a  Druidical 
priesthood,  and  the  rites  of  that  bloody  system  of  re- 
ligion. 

Another  striking  instance  of  the  perversion  of  mind, 
and  the  abuse  of  the  human  intellect  and  heart,  is  the 
system  of  the  Romish  church.  No  one  created  mind, 
apparently,  could  ever  have  invented  a  scheme  of  de- 
lusion, of  degradation  of  the  soul,  the  intellect,  the 
whole  man,  so  perfect  and  complete  as  is  this.  What 
minds  must  have  been  employed  in  shutting  out  the 
light  of  heaven,  and  in  burying  the  manna,  which  fell 
in  showers  so  extended  !  What  a  system !  To  gather 
all  the  books  in  the  world,  and  put  them  all  within  the 
stone  walls  of  the  monastery  and  the  cloister, — to  crush 
schools,  except  in  these  same  monasteries,  in  which  they 
trained  up  men  to  become  more  and  more  skilful  in  do- 
ing the  work  of  ruin, — to  delude  the  world  with  cere- 
monies and  fooleries,  while  the  Bible  was  taken  away, 
and  Religion  muttered  her  rites  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
— and  all  this  the  result  of  a  settled  plan  to  debase  the 
intellect  and  mock  poor  human  nature!  And,  when 
the  Reformation  held  up  all  these  abominations  to 
light,  what  a  masterpiece  was  the  last  plan  laid  to  stifle 
the  reason  forever! — the  inquisition.  It  was  reared 
through  the  Christian  world :  the  decree,  by  a  single 
blow,  proscribed  between  sixty  and  seventy  printing 


358  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Fate  of  Galileo. 

presses,  and  excommunicated  all  who  should  ever  read 
any  thing  which  they  might  produce.  A  philosopher 
who.  like  Galileo,  could  pour  light  upon  science,  and 
astonish  the  world  by  his  discoveries,  must  repeatedly 
fall  into  the  cruel  mercies  of  the  inquisition.  The  in- 
genuity of  hell  seemed  tasked  to  invent  methods  by 
which  the  human  mind  might  be  shut  up  in  Egyptian 
darkness-;  and  never  has  a  Catholic  community  been 
known  to  be  other  than  degraded,  ignorant,  super- 
stitious and  sunken.  Let  light  in,  and  all  who  re- 
ceive it  rush  to  infidelity.  But  what  a  mass  of  mind 
has  been,  and  still  is,  employed  in  upholding  this  sys- 
tem !  And  what  a  loss  to  the  world  has  it  produced, 
in  quenching,  in  everlasting  darkness,  the  uncounted 
millions  of  glorious  minds  which  have  been  destroyed 
by  it !  If  1  could  find  it  in  my  heart  to  anathematize 
any  order  of  men, — and  I  hope  I  cannot, — it  would 
be  those  who  are  thus  taking  away  the  key  of  knowl- 
edge, and  preventing  all  within  the  compass  of  their 
influence  from  fulfilling  the  great  object  for  which  they 
were  created. 

Was  man  created  for  wart  Did  his  Maker  create 
the  eye,  that  he  might  take  better  aim  on  the  field  of 
battle"?  give  him  skill,  that  he  might  invent  methods 
of  slaying  by  thousands?  and  plant  a  thirst  in  the  soul, 
that  it  might  be  quenched  with  the  blood  of  men  ? 
What  science  or  art  can  boast  of  more  precision,  of 
more  to  teach  it,  to  hail  it  with  enthusiasm,  and  to  eel- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  359 

The  spirit  of  war  universal.  Career  of  Buonaparte. 

ebrate  it  in  song?  Genius  has  ever  sat  at  the  feet  of 
Mars,  and  exhausted  his  efforts  in  preparing  exquisite 
offerings.  Human  thought  has  never  made  such  gi- 
gantic efforts  as  when  employed  in  scenes  of  butchery. 
Has  Skill  ever  been  more  active  and  successful — has 
Poetry  ever  so  kindled,  as  when  the  flames  of  Troy 
lighted  her  page  ?  What  school-boy  is  ignorant  of 
the  battle-ground,  and  the  field  of  blood,  where  ancient 
and  modern  armies  met  and  tried  to  crush  each  other  ? 
Has  Music  ever  thrilled  like  that  which  led  men  to 
battle,  and  the  plume  of  the  desert-bird  ever  danced 
so  gracefully  as  when  on  the  head  of  the  warrior? 
Are  any  honors  so  freely  bestowed,  or  cheaply  pur- 
chased, as  those  which  are  gained  by  a  few  hours  of 
fighting  ?  See  that  man,  who,  so  late,  was  the  wonder 
of  the  world,  calling  out,  marshalling,  employing  and 
wasting  almost  all  the  treasures  of  Europe,  for  twelve 
or  fifteen  years.  What  multitudes  of  minds  did  he 
call  to  the  murderous  work  of  war  ! — minds  that  might 
have  blessed  the  world  with  literature,  with  science, 
with  schools,  and  with  the  gospel  of  peace,  had  they 
not  been  perverted  from  the  great  and  best  object  of 
living !  Says  a  philosophical  writer,  speaking  on  this 
subject,  "  I  might  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  illustration, 
that  all  the  schemes  of  ambition,  and  cruelty,  and  in- 
trigue, were  blotted  from  the  page  of  history, — that, 
against  the  names  of  the  splendid  and  guilty  actors, 


360  THE  STUDENTS  MANUAL. 

A  striking  contrast  supposed. 

whom  the  world,  for  ages,  has  wondered  at,  there 
were  written  achievements  of  Christian  benevolence, 
equally  grand  and  characteristic, — and  then  ask  what 
a  change  would  there  be  in  the  scenes  which  the 
world  has  beheld  transacted,  and  what  a  difference  in 
the  results !  Alexander  should  have  won  victories  in 
Persia  more  splendid  than  those  of  Granicus  and  Ar- 
bela ;  he  should  have  wandered  over  India,  like  Bu- 
chanan, and  wept  for  another  world  to  bring  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Saviour ;  and,  returning  to  Babylon, 
should  have  died,  like  Martyn,  the  victim  of  Christian 
zeal.  Caesar  should  have  made  Gaul  and  Britain 
obedient  to  the  faith,  and,  crossing  the  Rubicon  with 
his  apostolic  legions,  and  making  the  Romans  free- 
men of  the  Lord,  should  have  been  the  forerunner  of 
Paul,  and  done  half  his  work.  Charlemagne  should 
have  been  a  Luther.  Charles  of  Sweden  should 
have  been  a  Howard ;  and,  flying  from  the  Baltic  to  the 
Euxine,  like  an  angel  of  mercy,  should  have  fallen, 
when  on  some  errand  of  love,  and,  numbering  his  days 
by  the  good  deeds  he  had  done,  should  have  died  like 
Mills  in  an  old  age  of  charity.  Voltaire  should  have 
written  Christian  tracts.  Rousseau  should  have  been 
a  Fenelon.  Hume  should  have  unravelled  the  intri- 
cacies of  theology,  and  defended,  like  Edwards,  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints." 

We  call  ours  the  most  enlightened  nation  on  earth 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  361 

Estimation  in  which  war  is  now  held. 

inferior  to  none  in  owning  the  spirit  of  Christianity ; 
and  we  claim  this  as  an  age  behind  none  ever  enjoyed, 
for  high  moral  principle  and  benevolent,  disinterested 
action.  But  what  is  this  principle  in  the  great  mass 
of  mankind !  When  clouds  gather  in  the  political 
horizon,  and  war  threatens  a  nation,  how  are  the 
omens  received  ?  How  many  are  there  who  turn 
aside  and  weep,  and  deprecate  the  guilt,  the  wo,  and 
the  indescribable  evils  and  miseries  of  war?  The 
great  majority  of  the  nation  feel  that  the  path  of  glory 
is  now  opening  before  them,  and  that  the  honor  which 
may  possibly  be  attained  by  a  few  bloody  battles,  is 
ample  compensation  for  the  expense,  the  morals,  the 
lives,  and  the  happiness,  which  must  be  sacrificed  for 
the  possibility.  Let  that  nation  rush  to  war  for  some 
supposed  point  of  honor.  Watch  the  population  as 
they  collect,  group  after  group,  under  the  burning  sun, 
all  anxious,  all  eager,  and  all  standing  as  if  in  deep 
expectation  for  the  signal  which  was  to  call  them  to 
judgment.  They  are  waiting  for  the  first  tidings  of 
die  battle,  where  the  honor  of  the  nation  is  staked. 
No  tidings  that  ever  came  from  Heaven  can  send  a 
thrill  of  joy  so  deep  as  the  tidings  that  one  ship  has 
conquered  or  sunk  another. 

Was  it  any  thing  remarkable,  that,  in  the  very 
heart  of  a  Christian  nation,  a  single  horse-race  brought 
over  fifty  thousand  people  together  ?  Were  they  act- 


362  THE   STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

A  horse-race.  Prostitution  of  mind  unlamentcd. 

ing  so  much  out  of  the  character  of  the  mass  of  man- 
kind as  to  cause  it  to  make  any  deep  impression  upon 
the  moral  sensibilities  of  the  nation  ? 

Suppose  it  were  known  that  a  mind  was  now  in 
process  of  training,  which  might,  if  its  powers  were 
properly  directed,  be  equal  to  Milton  or  Locke ;  but 
that,  instead  of  this,  it  will  waste  its  powers  in  creating 
such  song  as  Byron  wrote,  or  in  weaving  such  webs  as 
the  schoolmen  wove.  Would  the  knowledge  of  such  a 
waste  of  mind,  such  perversion  of  powers,  cause  a 
deep  sensation  of  regret  among  men  ?  or  have  such 
perversions  been  so  common  in  the  world,  that  one 
such  magnificent  mind  might  be  lost  to  mankind,  and 
no  one  would  mourn?  The  answer  is  plain.  The 
world  has  become  so  accustomed  to  seeing  mind  pros- 
tituted to  ignoble  purposes,-  and  influence  which  might 
reach  round  the  globe  like  a  zone  of  mercy  thrown 
away  forever,  that  we  hardly  think  of  it  as  greatly  out 
of  the  way. 

A  generation  of  men  come  on  the  stage  of  action ; 
they  find  the  world  in  darkness,  in  ignorance,  and  in 
sin.  They  live,  gain  the  few  honors  which  are  easily 
plucked,  gather  the  little  wealth  which  toil  and  anxie- 
ty will  bestow,  and  then  pass  away.  As  a  whole,  the 
generation  do  not  expect  or  try  to  throw  an  influence 
upon  the  world  which  shall  be  redeeming.  They  do 
not  expect  to  leave  the  world  materially  better  than 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  363 

The  world  left  to  sink. 

they  found  it.  Why  do  we  not  mourn  that  such 
myriads  of  immortal  minds  are  destined  to  pass  away, 
and  never  to  break  out  in  acts  of  mercy  and  kindness 
to  the  world  ?  Because  we  have  so  long  been  so 
prodigal  of  mind,  that  we  hardly  notice  its  loss. 

For  thousands  of  years  the  world  has  slept  in  igno- 
rance, or  groped  in  utter  darkness.  Nations  have 
come  up,  and  bowed  and  worshipped  the  sun,  or 
wood,  or  brass,  stone,  or  reptile,  and  then  have  passed 
away.  The  heart  of  man  has  been  broken  by  vain 
superstitions,. by  cruelties,  by  vileness,  under  the  name 
of  religion ;  and,  aside  from  the  Bible,  we  see  no  hope 
that  it  will  t)e  otherwise,  for  as  long  a  period  to  come. 
But  does  this  immense  waste,  this  immeasurable  loss, 
for  time  and  eternity,  trouble  mankind  ?  Is  the  world 
at  work  for  its  redemption,  and  disenthralment  ?  By 
no  means  !  A  small  portion  of  the  Christian  world 
alone  have  even  looked  at  it  with  any  interest.  This 
small  part  are  making  some  efforts.  They  are  taking 
the  gospel  of  God,  and  with  it  carrying  the  arts  of 
civilization,  the  light  of  schools,  the  sacredness  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  influences  and  hopes  of  immortality, 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  But  how  are  these  labors 
esteemed  by  the  mass  of  society  ?  Where  is  the  sym- 
pathy for  the  solitary  missionary  of  the  cross,  as  he 
takes  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  goes  to  the  dark  places 
of  the  earth,  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty  ?  The 
world  laughs  at  the  idea  that  the  earth  can  be  re- 


364  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Who  is  great.  Individual  examples.  The  merchant. 

covered ;  and,  though  lions  and  tigers  are  constantly 
tamed,  and  the  deadly  serpent  is  charmed,  yet  there 
is  no  faith  that  the  moral  character  of  man  is  ever  to 
be  any  better.  The  schemes  of  the  missionary  are  fa- 
natical, the  Bible  is  powerless  as  the  cold  philosophy  of 
the  world,  and  preaching  has  no  power  but  that  which 
depends  upon  the  eloquence  of  the  tongue  which  utters 
it.  But  the  question  is,  How  do  you  account  for  it,  that 
the  community  at  large  so  coolly  make  up  their  minds, 
that  the  world  can  never  be  any  better,  and  each  one 
goes  about  his  business,  as  if  it  were  all  of  no  sort  of 
consequence  ?  I  account  for  it,  by  saying  that  man- 
kind are  supremely  selfish ;  so  much  so,  that  the  situa- 
tion of  a  world  lying  in  wickedness,  does  not  move 
them — that  the  great  majority  of  men  always  have, 
and  do  still,  mistake  the  true  object  of  life. 

"  Nothing  in  man  is  great,  but  so  far  as  it  is  con- 
nected with  God.  The  only  wise  thing  recorded  of 
Xerxes,  is  his  reflection  on  the  sight  of  his  army,  that 
not  one  of  that  immense  multitude  would  survive  a 
hundred  years.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  momentary 
gleam  of  true  light  and  feeling.  The  history  of  all 
the  great  characters  of  the  Bible  is  summed  up  in  this 
one  sentence; — they  acquainted  themselves  with  God, 
and  acquiesced  in  his  will  in  all  things ; "  and  no  other 
characters  can  be  called  great,  with  any  propriety. 

Look  at  individuals.  You  walk  down  on  the  wharf 
of  one  of  our  large  cities.  You  notice  a  man  by 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL 


The  politician. 


himself  alone.  He  walks  with  a  quick,  feverish  step, 
backwards  and  forwards,  and,  every  few  moments, 
looks  away  at  that  dark  speck,  far  off  on  the  "  dark 
blue  sea."  He  is  waiting  for  that  ship  to  loom  up, 
that  he  may  see  his  own  flag  at  mast-head.  For 
nearly  three  years  she  has  been  gone,  and  comes 
home  now,  probably,  richly  freighted.  During  all 
this  time,  he  has  followed  her,  in  his  thoughts,  day 
and  night :  when  it  was  dark — when  the  storm  rush- 
ed— when  the  winds  moaned — he  thought  of  his  ship ; 
and  not  for  a  single  waking  hour  at  a  time  has  that 
ship's  image  been  out  of  his  mind.  His  whole  soul 
went  with  her ;  and  yet,  all  this  time,  he  never  lifted 
a  prayer  to  Him  who  holds  the  winds  and  the  waves 
in  his  hand ;  and  even  now,  when  his  heart  is  swelling 
with  hopes  that  are  realized,  still  he  thinks  not  of 
raising  a  breath  in  thanksgiving  to  his  God;  thinks 
of  no  acts  of  mercy  which  he  will  perform ;  feels  no 
accountability  for  his  property.  Is  such  a  man,  living 
for  property  alone,  pursuing  the  real  object  of  life  ? 

Look  at  another  man.  He  is  walking  his  closet : 
his  brow  is  contracted ;  his  countenance  faded ;  his  eye 
sunken,  and  he  is  full  of  troubled  anxiety.  He  looks 
out  of  his  window  for  his  messenger,  and  then  sinks 
down  in  deep  thought.  It  would  seem  as  if  nothing 
less  than  the  salvation  of  his  soul  could  cause  such  an 
anxiety.  He  is  a  cunning  statesman,  a  crafty  politi- 
cian, and  is  now  waiting  to  learn  the  result  of  a  new 


366  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  refined  scholar. 

scheme,  which  he  is  now  executing,  with  the  hope 
that  it  may  aid  him  in  climbing  the  ladder  of  ambition. 
He  eyes  every  movement  in  the  community,  watches 
every  change,  and  carries  a  solicitude  which,  at  times, 
must  be  agonizing.  There  are  thousands  of  such 
minds,  trying  to  make  men  their  tools,  regardless  of 
means  or  measures,  provided  they  can  fulfil  their  great 
desire — exalt  themselves.  Are  such  men  pursuing 
the  real  object  of  life  ? 

Look  again. — There  is  a  man  of  cultivated  taste 
and  refined  feeling.  His  soul  is  full  of  poetry,  and  his 
feelings  alive  to  every  charm  that  is  earthly.  He  can 
look  out  on  the  face  of  the  evening  sky,  or  watch  the 
tints  of  dawn,  and  admire  such  beauties ;  but  his  soul 
never  looks  up  "  through  nature's  works  to  nature's 
God."  He  can  enter  into  deep  communion  with  what 
is  perfect  in  the  natural  world,  but  he  holds  none 
with  the  Father  of  his  spirit.  Music,  too,  is  his  delight. 
He  can  eagerly  give  himself  away  to  the  melody  of 
sweet  sounds ;  but,  with  all  this,  he  stands  without  the 
threshold  of  the  moral  temple  of  God,  and  has  no  wish 
to  enter  in  and  eat  the  food  of  angels.  The  thorns 
which  grow  on  Sinai  are  unpleasant  to  his  soul ;  but 
not  more  so  than  are  the  roses  which  bloom  on  Cal- 
vary. The  blending  tints  of  the  summer-bow  awaken 
a  thrill  of  pleasure;  but  the  bow  of  mercy  which 
hangs  over  the  cross  of  Jesus,  has  in  it  nothing  that 
can  charm.  He  lives,  plans,  and  acts,  just  as  he 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL  367 

Thought  of  Pascal.  Every  one  has  an  object.       , 

would  were  there  no  God  above  him,  before  whom 
every  thought  lies  naked.  Is  this  man — this  refined, 
cultivated  scholar— pursuing  the  object  for  which  he 
was  created  ?  And  if  every  cultivated  man  on  earth 
sh'ould  do  precisely  as  he  does,  would  the  world  ad- 
vance in  knowledge,  virtue,  or  religion  ?  Man  was  cre- 
ated for  purposes  high  and  noble — such  as  angels  en- 
gage in,  and  in  comparison  with  which,  all  other  ob- 
jects sink  into  insignificance,  and  all  other  enjoyments 
are  contemptible  as  ashes. 

The  distinguished  Pascal  has  a  thought  which  is 
well  worth  examination,  especially  by  all  those  who 
are  conscious  of  living  for  other  aims  than  those  which 
ought  to  be  the  real  end  of  life.  "  All  our  endeavors 
after  greatness  proceed  from  nothing  but  a  desire  of 
being  surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  persons  and  affairs 
that  may  hinder  us  from  looking  into  ourselves ;  which 
is  a  view  we  cannot  bear."  Probably  few  are  con- 
scious that  this  is  the  reason  why  they  so  busily  waste 
their  lives  in  unworthy  pursuits,  though  none  can  be 
insensible  of  having  the  effect  produced. 

Every  youth  who  reads  these  pages  expects  to  be 
active,  to  be  influential,  and  to  have  some  object  of 
pursuit  every  way  worthy  of  his  aims.  That  object 
will  be  one  of  the  four  following — pleasure,  wealth, 
human  applause,  or  genuine  benevolence. 

I  shall  not  stop  to  dwell  upon  these.  No  argument 
need  be  urged  to  show  how  utterly  unworthy  of  his  ed- 


368  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  appetites  and  passions. 

ucation,  of  his  friends,  and  of  himself,  he  acts,  who  so 
degrades  himself  as  to  make  the  appetites  and  passions 
of  his  animal  nature  the  object  of  life,  and  who  looks 
to  them  for  happiness.  Let  him  know  that  there  is 
not  an  appetite  to  be  gratified,  which  does  not  pall 
and  turn  to  be  an  enemy  the  moment  it  has  become 
his  master.  It  makes  him  a  slave,  with  all  his  degra- 
dation and  sorrows,  without  any  of  the  slave's  freedom 
from  thought  and  anticipation.  You  cannot  give  way 
to  any  appetite,  without  feeling  instant  and  constant 
degradation;  and  he  who  sinks  in  such  a  way  that  he 
despises  himself,  will  soon  be  a  wretch  indeed.  Con- 
science can  be  deadened  and  murdered  in  no  way 
so  readily  as  by  such  indulgence  :  the  mind  can  be 
weakened,  and  every  intellectual  effort  forever  killed 
in  no  way  so  readily  as  in  this.  If  you  would  at  once 
seal  your  degradation,  for  time  and  eternity,  and  for- 
ever blast  every  hope  of  peace,  greatness,  or  useful- 
ness, I  can  tell  you  how  to  do  it  all.  You  have  only 
to  cultivate  your  appetites,  and  give  way  to  the  de- 
mands of  your  passions,  and  drink  of  those  stolen  waters 
which  are  sweet,  and  eat  of  that  bread,  in  secret,  which 
is  forbidden,  and  you  may  rest  assured  that  you  have 
chosen  a  path  which  is  straight — but  it  is  straight  to  ruin. 
The  pursuits  of  wealth  are  less  debasing,  more  re- 
fined, and  every  way  more  honorable.  But  they  are 
not  worthy  of  you.  You  can  pursue  wealth  and  cul- 
tivate selfishness  at  every  step :  you  may  do  it  with  a 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  369 

Seeking  after  weahh.  Life  of  ambition. 

heart  that  idolizes  what  it  gains,  and,  could  it  know 
that  what  it  gathers  to-day  would  continue  in  the  fam- 
ily for  centuries,  and  be  constantly  increasing,  would 
idolize  it  still  more.  But  here  let  me  say,  that  if  wealth 
be  your  object,  you  have  mistaken  your  path.  A 
student  seeking  wealth  !  There  is  no  situation  in  the 
land  in  which  you  could  not  obtain  it  easier  and  faster, 
than  by  study.  No  class  of  men  are  in  so  poor  a  sit- 
uation to  become  wealthy  as  students ;  and  no  class 
of  men,  in  proportion  to  their  time,  their  labor,  and 
their  efforts,  are  so  poorly  paid  as  professional  men ; 
and  if  wealth  were  my  object,  I  hardly  know  of  any 
business  which  I  would  not  rather  undertake  as  a 
means  by  which  to  obtain  it,  than  either  of  the  profes- 
sions, in  this  country.  A  student  cannot  become 
wealthy,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  without  contract- 
ing his  soul  to  a  degree  which  destroys  all  his  claims 
to  be  a  student. 

.But  the  strongest  temptation,  which-  will  beset  you, 
is  to  live  and  act  under  the  influence  of  ambition,  and 
to  sell  your  time,  and  efforts,  and  yourself  indeed,  for 
human  applause.  There  is  no  stream  so  sweet  as 
that  which  flows  from  this  fountain.  But  you  little 
know  the  dangers  which  wait  around  the  man  who 
would  ((lrink  here — the  archers  which  lie  in  ambush. 
There  are  so  many  things  to  diminish  the  gratifications 
which  ambition  bestows,  that,  were  there  no  higher, 
no  nobler  end  of  existence,  it  would  §eerq  dangerous 
24 


370  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  vexations  of  the  ambitious  man. 

to  pursue  this.  How  many  begin  life  with  high  hopes, 
with  expectations  almost  unbounded,  who,  in  a  little 
time,  sink  down  into  discouragement  and  listlessness, 
because  they  find  the  tree  higher  up  the  mountain 
than  they  expected,  and  its  fruit  more  difficult  to  be 
obtained !  But  suppose  a  man  be  successful,  and  the 
measure  of  his  desires  begins  to  be  filled.  As  you 
come  close  to  him,  you  discover  spots  which  were  not 
seen  at  a  distance,  and  blemishes  which  the  first 
glare  of  brightness  concealed.  These  weaknesses  are 
noted,  trumpeted,  magnified,  and  multiplied,  till  it 
seems  astonishing  how  a  character  can  be  great  under 
such  a  load  of  infirmities.  These  are  vexations  ;  they 
are  like  little  dogs  which  hang  upon  your  heels  all  the 
day,  and  which  give  you  no  peace  at  night.  But 
these  you  can  endure.  You  may  live  in  spite  of  hav- 
ing every  blemish,  which  your  public  character  ex- 
poses, published  abroad.  But  suppose  you  make  a 
single  false  step,  as  you  mount  the  hilW-where  then 
are  you?  How  many,  who  have  made  the  applause 
of  men  the  breath  of  their  nostrils,  have  seen  all  their 
hopes  dashed,  in  the  very  morning  of  their  lives,  by 
some  step  which  they  took  in  furtherance  of  their  ob- 
ject, but  which,  in  fact,  was  a  mistaken  step  !  The 
wheel  was  broken  at  once,  and  with  it,  their  schemes, 
and  perhaps  their  hearts.  But  this  is  not  the  worst  of 
what  is  before  you,  if  you  live  for  applause.  Admira- 
tion for  any  thing  on  earth  cannot  endure  long.  It 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  371 

Admiration  short-lived.  Difficulties  in  sustaining  a  reputation. 

will  always  be  short-lived ;  and  there  is  quite  as  much 
difficulty  in  keeping  up  a  reputation,  as  in  gaining  it 
at  the  first.  It  takes  us  but  a  short  time  to  say  all  our 
pretty  sayings,  and  all  our  smart  things.  A  reputa- 
tion which  has  cost  you  years  of  toil  to  obtain,  is  no 
less  difficult  to  keep  than  to  acquire.  If  that  reputa- 
tion be  not  still  rising  and  increasing  in  splendor,  it 
will  soon  begin  to  droop  and  decay.  Your  best  ac- 
tions must  become  better  still — your  highest  efforts 
must  become  higher  still— or  you  sink;  and,  after  all, 
do  what  you  will,  and  as  well  as  you  will,  still  you  do 
not  more  than  barely  meet  expectation.  You  exert 
yourself,  and  you  make  a  fine  speech ;  or  you  produce 
-a  masterly  dissertation ;  or  you  write  an  interesting  and 
a  valuable  book  ;  and  the  question  is,  not  whether  you 
have  fallen  below  the  subject,  or  below  yourself,  but 
have  you  not  fallen  below  the  standard  which  others 
have  capriciously  set  for  you  ?  If  you  have,  you  are 
going  down  the  hill,  in  fame.  A  man  writes  a  book : — 
it  is  his  first  effort.  There  was  no  expectation  about 
it.  It  is  received  well,  even  with  applause.  He 
writes  another ;  and  now  he  is  not  to  be  measured  by 
what  he  did  before.  He  must  be  measured  by  the 
standard  of  public  opinion ;  and  a  reception  which 
would  raise  a  new  author,  is  ruin  to  him.  All  this 
price  you  must  certainly  pay,  if  you  live  for  the  ap- 
plause of  your  fellow-men.  They  will  bestow  na 
more  of  it  than  they  can  avoid ;  they  will  recall  it  as 
soon  as  an  opportunity  allows  ;  and  they  will  fo 


372         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

X 

No  one  satisfied  with  his  reputation.  Restlessness  of  ambition. 

neglect  is  your  due,  in  future,  as  a  counterweight  to 
what  has  been  so  liberally  thrown  into  the  other 
scale.  The  pursuits  of  ambition  are  successions  of 
jealous  disquietudes,  of  corroding  fears,  of  high  hopes, 
of  restless  desires,  and  of  bitter  disappointment.  There 
is  ever  a  void  In  the  soul — a  reaching  forth  towards 
the  empty  air,  and  a  lighting  up  of  new  desires  in  the 
heart.  It  seems  to  me  to  have  been  mere  affec- 
tation in  Caesar,  who  said — and  his  repeating  it  so 
often  strengthens  the  supposition  of  affectation — that 
he  "  had  enough  of  fame  " — se  satis  vzl  ad  naturam, 
vel  ad  gloriam  vixisse.  Few  can  believe  that  the 
emperor  could  have  been  sincere  in  this  declaration. 

There  are  other  vexations,  and  certain  disappoint- 
ments, attending  him  who  lives  for  the  good  opinion 
of  men,  which  are  unknown  till  they  come  upon  you, 
but  which  are  distressing  in  the  extreme,  when  they 
do  come.  That  desire  after  fame  which  moves  you, 
soon  becomes  feverish,  and  is  constantly  growing 
stronger  and  stronger,.  And  in  proportion  to  your 
desire  for  applause,  and  the  good  opinion  of  men,  is 
your  mortification  deep  and  distressing,  when  applause 
is  withheld.  If  praise  elates  and  excites  you,  the  with- 
holding that  praise  will  proportionably  sink  your  spir- 
its and  destroy  your  comfort.  You  are  thus  a  mere 
foot-ball  among  men,  thrqwn  wherever  they  please, 
and  in  the  power  of  every  man ;  for  every  man  can 
take  away  your  peace,  if  he  pleases,  and  every  man 
is  more  tempted  to  bestow  tonsures  than  applause. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  373 

Example  of  a  disappointed  man  of  ambition. 

One  thing  more.  If  you  set  your  heart  on  the  ap- 
plauses of  men,  you  will  find  that,  if  you  receive  them, 
the  gift  will  not,  and  cannot,  bestow  positive  happi- 
ness upon  yon,  while  the  withholding  of  them  will 
clothe  you  with  certain  and  positive  misery.  A  disap- 
pointed man  of  ambition  is  miserable,  not  because  his 
loss  is  really  so  great,  but  because  his  imagination  has, 
for  years,  been  making  it  appear  great  to  him.  I 
could  point  you  to  the  grave  of  a  most  promising  man, 
who  lived  for  honors  solely.  The  first  distinct  object 
on  which  he  fixed  his  eye,  was  to  be  a  representative 
in  congress.  For  this  he  toiled  day  and  night.  He 
was  every  way  worthy ;  but  just  as  he  was  on  the 
point  of  succeeding,  when  the  convention  had  met  to 
nominate  him,  one  of  his  best  friends  felt  that  such  an 
appointment  would  interfere  with  his  own  schemes  of 
petty  ambition,  and,  therefore,  he  stepped  in  and  pre- 
vented the  nomination.  The  poor  man  returned  home 
sick,  cast  down,  and  broken-hearted.  The  loss  of  that 
election  certainly  was  not  of  any  great  consequence, 
but  he  had  bro6ded  over  it  till  it  was  of  immense  con- 
sequence, in  his  view.  The  blow  withered  him,  and 
in  a  few  months  he  went  down  to  his  grave,  the  prey 
of  disappointment.  Is  such  a  pursuit  worthy  of  man  ? 
Is  this  the  high  end  of  life  on  earth  ?  A  distinguished 
writer,  who  thus  lived  for  fame,  not  only  outlived  his 
fame,  but  the  powers  of  his  own  mind ;  and  many 
were  the  hours,  in  broken  old  age,  which  he  spent  in 
weeping,  because  he  could  not  understand  the  books 


374  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

Character  of  fame. 

which  he  wrote  when  young.     What  a  picture  could 
the  painter  produce,  with  such  a  subject  before  him ! 

u  We  blush,  detected  in  designs  on  praise, 
Though  for  best  deeds,  and  from  the  best  of  men : 
And  why? — because  immortal.    Art  divine 
Has  made  the  body  tutor  to  the  soul : 
Heaven  kindly  gives  our  blood  a  moral  flow ; 
Bids  it  ascend  the  glowing  cheek,  and  there 
Upbraid  that  little  heart's  inglorious  aim, 
Which  stoops  to  court  a  character  from  man : 
Ambition's  boundless  appetite  outspeaks 
The  verdict  of  its  shame.    When  souls  take  fire 
At  high  presumptions  of  their  own  desert, 
One  age  is  poor  applause :  the  mighty  shout, 
The  thunder  by  the  living  few  begun, 
Late  time  must  echo,  worlds  unborn  resound. 
We  wish  our  names  eternally  to  live. 
Wild  dream !  which  ne'er  had  haunted  human  thought, 
Had  not  our  natures  been  eternal  too. 
Fame  is  the  shade  of  immortality, 
And  in  itself  a  shadow  ; — soon  as  caught, 
Contemned,  it  shrinks  to  nothing  in  the  grasp. 

Man  must  soar. 
An  obstinate  activity  within, 
An  insuppressive  spring,  will  toss  him  up 
In  spite  of  fortune's  loads. 
And  why  ? — because  immortal  as  his  Lord. 
And  souls  immortal  must  forever  heave 
At  something  great — the  glitter  or  the  gold — 
The  praise  of  mortals,  or  the  praise  of  Heaven." 

This  brings  me  to  the  point  at  which  I  am  wish- 
ing to  come.    This  "  something  great,"  at  which  we 


THE   STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  375 

The  worth  of  ambition  imaginary. 

"  heave,"  may  be  great  in  reality,  or  only  great  because 
we  make  it  so.  But  while  I  have  thus  briefly  tried  to 
show  you  that  in  neither  of  the  ways  described  will 
you  find  what  ought  to  be  the  object  of  living,  you 
will  understand  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  spirit  or 
philosophy  of  the  gospel,  which  throws  the  soul  back 
upon  herself  without  givin^her  any  object  upon  which 
her  powers  may  be  exerted.  If  we  would  drive  the 
love  of  pleasure,  the  love  of  wealth,  and  the  love  of 
human  applause,  from  the  heart,  we  do  not  propose  to 
leave  that  heart  cold  and  desolate,  with  nothing  to 
cheer  or  warm  it,  or  to  call  forth  its  warmest,  holiest, 
noblest  sympathies.  Far  from  it.  But  what  I  wish 
is,  that  you  may  so  lay  your  plans,  and  so  pursue  the 
object  which  you  place  before  the  mind,  that  you 
may  have  continued  contentment  and  peace  while  pur- 
suing it,  the  consciousness  of  not  living  in  vain,  while 
your  soul  is  expanding  in  all  noble,  heavenly  qualities, 
and  preparing  for  a  destiny  which  is  blessed  with  the 
pure  light  of  immortality. 

"  At  tibi  juventus,  at  tibi  immortalitas  : 
Tibi  parta  divium  est  vita.    Periment  mutuis 
Elementa  sese  et  interibunt  ictibus. 
Tu  permanebis  sola  semper  Integra, 
Tu  cuncta  rerum  quassa,  cuncta  naufraga, 

Jam  portu  inipso  tuta,  contemplabere." 
*  •  *••• 

He  who  has  the  advantages  and  the  responsibilities 
of  the  student,  needs  to  act  under  a  motive  which  is 


376  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

We  need  a  high  motive  fif  action.         A  high  standard  is  practicable. 

all-pervading,  which  guides  at  all  times,  in  all  cir- 
cumstances, and  which  absorbs  the  whole  soul.  It 
should  be  such  as  will  lead  to  a  high,  noble  standard 
of  action  and  feeling,  and  as  will  call  forth  the  highest 
efforts  of  the  whole  man,  body  and  soul,  in  enterprise 
which  will  do  good  to  men.  There  is  but  one  motive 
which  has  these  qualities  ;^md  that  is,  to  secure  the 
approbation  of  God,  and  act  on  a  scale  which  meas- 
ures eternity,  as  well  as  time.  Under  the  light  of  the 
Bible,  with  the  wish  to  do  what  God  would  have  you 
do,  you  will  not  fail  of  meeting  and  fulfilling  the  great 
object  of  life. 

You  will  naturally  ask  here,  is  it  practicable  to 
have  the  high  standard  of  acting  for  the  glory  of  God 
constantly  before  you  ?  I  reply,  unquestionably  yes. 

You  know  that  we  have  the  power  of  choosing  any 
object  on  which  to  fix  the  heart,  to  look  at,t}:e  motives 
which  should  gather  the  affections  around  that  object, 
and  then  we  have  the  power  of  bending  the  whole  en- 
ergy of  the  soul  to  the  attainment  of  that  object.  De- 
mosthenes was  an  ambitious  young  man.  He  is 
thought  to  have  had  very  little  principle:  but  he  fixed 
his  eye  on  fame— on  that  species  of  popular  applause 
which  eloquence  alone  can  command.  The  mark  at 
which  he  gazed  was  high.  From  it  he  never  turned 
his  eye  a  single  moment.  Difficulties,  which  nature 
threw  in  his  way,  were  overcome.  He  gave  his  heart, 
his  soul,  to  seeking  renown ;  he  climbed  up  a  hill, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  377 


Examples  of  a  wrong  standard.  Example  of  the  right  standard. 


where  most  would  have  slid  down,  and,  with  his  own 
hand,  he  wrote  in  the  book  of  immortality,  at  the  top 
of  the  hill,  his  own  deathless  fame.  His  admirer, 
Cicero,  tells  us,  that  he  always  had  a  standard  of  great- 
ness before  him  which  was  unmeasured — infinite. 
He  determined  to  stand  by  the  side  of  Demosthenes. 
He  labored  ;  he  toiled ;  he  achieved  the  victory,  and 
stands,  perhaps,  as  high  up  the  hill  of  fame  as  his 
master.  He  made  himself.  We  often  speak  of  self- 
made  men,  of  high  renown  and  wonderful  deeds. 
What  made  them  great?  What  made  Buonaparte  the 
terror  of  the  earth  ?  He  fixed  his  eye  on  the  domin- 
ion of  Europe  at  least,  and  towards  that  goal  he  ran 
like  a  strong- man  ;  and  to  it  he  would  have  attained, 
had  there  not  been  an  Omnipotence  in  heaven  which 
can  make  the  strong  man  as  tow.  He  made  himself 
his  own  idol,  and  determined  that  the  whole  world 
should  bow  to  it.  ! 

What  made  Paul  the  man  that  he  was  ?  It  was  his 
fixing  his  eye  on  one  vast  object,  and  never  looking 
away.  That  object  was,  to  bring  the  whole  world  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  to  the  obedience  of  the 
faith,  and  to  lead  them  up  the  paths  of  life.  No 
smaller  object  filled  his  vision ;  and  with  such  a  pur- 
pose filling  his  soul,  he  could  trample  on  earth,  and 
walk  upon  the  thorns  which  persecution  threw  in  his 
path,  as  if  they  were  roses.  What  made  David 
Brainerd  ?  He  forgot  himself;  he  threw  himself  away ; 


378  THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL. 

What  is  duty.  Testimony  of  reason. 

he  fixed  his  heart  on  bringing  the  wanderers  of  the 
desert  to  sing  of  redeeming  mercy.  For  this  he  lived, 
toiled,  wore  out,  and  came  to  his  rest  in  the  grave,  till 
the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 

You  know  that  this  man  has  the  power  of  fixing  his 
heart  on  ambition,  and  dreaming  over  his  schemes,  till 
they  swallow  up  every  thing  else ; — that  another  can 
fix  his  heart  on  wealth ;  and  another  on  the  pleasures 
of  sensual  indulgences  ;  and  every  man  on  the  object 
which  is  most  congenial  to  himself.  Can  you  doubt 
that  you  have  the  power  of  making  the  glory  of  God 
the  polar  star  of  life  ? — of  living  for  it  and  to  it  ? — of 
rising  high  and  strong  in  action  ? — high  and  bright 
in  personal  holiness,  and  having  the  image  and  super- 
scription of  God  engraven  on  your  heart  ? 

Is  it  your  duty  to  make  the  will  of  God  your  only 
standard  of  life  ? 

Ask  your  reason.  What  says  she  ?  "  Shall  I  give 
my  heart  to  seeking  wealth,  and  the  treasures  of 
earth  ? "  No :  it  will  take  to  itself  wings  and  fly 
away.  Death  will  shortly  be  here,  and  seize  you 
with  a  grasp  so  firm,  that  you  must  let  go  of  wealth. 
You  sigh  after  gold  deeply :  you  must  shut  your  eyes, 
shortly,  upon  all  that  is  called  wealth.  Remember 
that  he  who  "  maketh  haste  to  be  rich  shall  not  be 
innocent."  But  your  soul  spreads  in  her  desires ;  she 
thirsts;  she  rises:  and  do  you  suppose  that  any  amount 
of  wealth  which  you  can  obtain  will  satisfy  her  ?  Will 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  379 

Testimony  of  conscience. 

the  little  time  which  it  is  yours,  cheer  the  soul  in  her 
everlasting  progress  ?  No:  the  bag  in  which  you  drop 
your  gains  will  have  holes  in  it.  Every  river  which, 
flows  over  golden  sands,  like  the  river  of  Egypt,  will 
turn  to  blood. 

Ask  reason,  "  Shall  I  give  my  heart  to  honors  ? — 
to  seeking  the  notice  of  men  ? — to  draw  their  atten- 
tion by  this  or  that  effort?  "  How  poor  will  be  your 
reward  for  your  pains  !  If  you  draw  the  eyes  of  man 
towards  you,  he  will  envy  you.  If  you  do  not,  you 
will  be  bitterly  disappointed.  There  is  no  house  on 
the  shores  of  time,  which  the  waves  will  not  wash 
away ;  there  is  no  path  here  which  the  foot  of  disap- 
pointment will  not  tread ;  there  is  no  sanctuary  here 
which  sorrow  will  not  invade.  There  is  a  home  pro- 
vided for  the  soul,  but  you  can  reach  it  only  by  living 
for  God :  to  none  others  than  those  who  thus  live 
will  its  doors  be  opened. 

Consult  your  conscience  also.  What  does  she  say 
is  the  great  end  of  life  ?  Listen  to  her  voice  in  the 
chambers  of  your  own  heart.  She  tells  you  that 
there  is  only  one  stream  that  is  pure,  and  that  stream 
flows  from  the  throne  of  God  ;  but  one  aim  is  noble 
and  worthy  of  an  immortal  spirit,  and  that  is  to  be- 
come the  friend  of  God,  so  that  the  soul  may  wing 
her  way  over  the  grave  without  fear,  without  dismay, 
without  condemnation.  There  is  only  one  path  pass- 
ing over  the  earth  which  is  safe3  which  is  light,  and 


380  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Advantages  of  ihe  true  standard.  Tho  soul  is  lilbd. 

which  is  honorable.  It  is  that  which  Jesus  Christ  has 
marked  out  in  his  word,  and  which  leads  to  glory. 
Let  conscience  speak,  when  you  are  tempted  to  waste 
a  day,  or  an  hour,  or  to  commit  any  known  sin,  to 
neglect  any  known  duty,  and  she  will  urge  you,  by 
all  the  high  and  holy  motives  of  eternity,  to  live  for 
God,  to  give  your  powers  to  him,  to  seek  his  honor  in 
all  that  you  do. 

My  young  reader  will  now  permit  me  to  present 
what  appear  to  me  the  motives  which  ought  to  bear 
upon  the  mind,  to  lead  it  thus  to  act — making  the 
honor  of  God  the  great  end  of  life. 

We  naturally  love  to  have  the  soul  filled.  We 
gaze  upon  the  everlasting  brow  of  the  mountain 
which  rises  beetling  and  threatening  over  our  heads, 
and  the  feeling  of  admiration  which  fills  the  soul  is  de- 
lightful. We  gaze  upon  the  ocean  rolling  in  it-  mighty 
waves,  and  listen  to  its  hoarse  voice  responding  to  the 
spirit  of  the  storm  which  hangs  over  it,  and  we  feel  an 
awe,  and  the  emotion  of  sublimity  rises  in  the  soul. 
So  it  is  with  the  desires.  .  There  is  something  inex- 
pressibly delightful  in  having  the  mind  filled  with  a 
great  and  a  noble  purpose — such  a  purpose  as  may 
lawfully  absorb  all  the  feelings  of  the  heart,  and  kindle 
every  desire  of  the  soul.  Who  ever  reared  a  dwelling 
perfect  enough  to  meet  the  desires  of  the  soul  ?  Who 
ever  had  a  sufficiency  of  wealth,  or  of  honors,  when 
these  were  the  grand  objects  of  pursuit  ?  Who  ever 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  381 

This  standard  engrosses  the  whole  heart.  Conquers  sin. 

had  the  thirst  quenched  by  drinking  here?  And  who 
ever  had  an  earthly  object  engrossing  the  heart,  which 
did  not  leave  room  for  restlessness,  a  desire  of  change, 
and  a  fretting  and  chafing  in  its  pursuit  ?  Not  so  when 
the  glory  of  God  fills  the  soul,  and  the  eye  is  fixed  on 
that  as  the  great  end  of  life.  You  may  live  near  him, 
and  draw  continually  nearer;  and  the  soul  does  not  feel 
the  passion  of  envy,  or  jealousy,  or  disappointment,  as 
she  comes  near  the  object  of  her  desires.  Having,  in- 
creases the  desire  for  more,  and  more  is  added ;  for 
sin  has  no  connection  with  the  gift.  They  who  are 
near  the  throne  are  full  of  this  one  thought, — how  can 
we  do  most  to  promote  the  glory  of  Him  who  is  over 
all,  God  blessed  forever?  No  contracted  plans,  no 
trifling  thoughts,  no  low  cares  enter  their  bosoms ;  for 
they  are  already  filled. 

Who  docs  not,  more  or  less,  feel  the  burden  of  sin? 
Make  God  the  object  of  life,  and  you  will  not  sin  as 
you  now  do.  The  word  of  life  is  choked  by  cares ;  it 
is  shut  cut  by  ambition  ;  it  is  treated  with  scorn,  when 
the  soul  presses  on  for  present  gratifications.  The 
tempter  never  has  so  complete  mastery  over  you,  as 
,when  you  fill  the  heart  with  this  world,  and  live  for  its 
rewards.  Not  so  when  you  live  for  your  Maker.  In 
vain  he  walked  around  the  Redeemer,  and  heaped  up 
bis  temptations  ;  he  found  no  place  in  him — not  a  spot 
where  he  could  lodge  a  temptation.  Do  you  never 
lament,  3tt  the  close  of  the  day,  that  you  have  fallen, 


382  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Leads  to  activity. 

here  and  there,  during  the  day? — that  your  heart  is 
frozen  and  fearful,  when  you  attempt  to  pray? — that 
a  dark  cloud  rolls  in  between  you  and  the  Sun  of  life  ? 
Fill  the  heart  with  good,  and  evil  is  shut  out. 

You  need  a  principle  which  will  lead  you  to  be  ac- 
tive for  the  welfare  of  men.  Your  reason  and  con- 
science may  decide,  that  you  ought  to  live  for  the 
good  of  your  species ;  and,  at  times,  you  may  rouse 
up ;  but  the  moving  power  is  not  uniform  and  steady 
You  need  a  principle  which  will  ever  keep  you  alive 
to  duty.  You  can  act  but  a  few  days  on  earth.  Be- 
tween every  rising  and  setting  sun,  multitudes  drop 
into  eternity.  Your  turn  will  come  shortly.  You 
will  soon  know  whether  you  are  forever  to  wear  a 
crown,  or  be  clothed  with  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt,— soon  know  how  bright  that  crown  is,  or  how 
deep  that  despair  is.  All  the  retributions  of  the 
eternal  world  will  soon  be  rolled  upon  you,  and  you 
want  a  principle  abiding  within  you,  which  will  bear 
you  on  in  duty,  active,  laborious,  self-denying,  widen- 
ing your  influence,  and  adding  strength  to  your  char- 
acter and  hopes  through  life  ;  but  this  principle  is  to 
be  obtained  only  by  seeking  His  approbation  from 
whom  you  receive  every  mercy  that  has  ever  visited 
your  heart,  every  joy  that  has  cheered  you,  and 
every  hope  for  which  the  heart  longs. 

You  love  to  see  the  results  of  your  exertions  in  any 
cause;  but  you   cannot,  in   all  cases  in  which  you 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.         383 

Shows  valuable  results.  No  waste  of  efforts. 

plan,  and  fill  up  your  plans.  You  may  determine  to 
be  rich,  and  yet  die  a  poor  man.  You  may  long  for 
distinction,  and  yet  never  have  it.  You  may  sigh  for 
pleasure,  and  yet  every  cup  may  be  dashed,  and  every 
hope  flee  from  you.  All  things  around  you  may  for- 
sake you  and  elude  your  grasp.  Not  so  if  you  live 
for  God.  Lay  up  wealth  in  heaven, — and  you  may 
increase  it  daily, — and  it  cannot  fail  you.  Try  to 
subdue  that  temper,  so  irritable,  so  unholy,  and  you 
will  find  that,  if  you  do  it  for  the  purpose  of  hon- 
oring God,  he  will  give  you  strength.  Try  to  con- 
quer that  covetousness  which  is  idolatry,  and  you  can 
do  it  effectually  and  thoroughly  by  subduing  the  heart 
for  the  sake  of  living  entirely  to  God.  You  offer  a 
prayer  for  men ; — it  shall  not  be  lost  upon  the  wind. 
You  send  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  destitute ; — 
it  shall  not  be  lost  by  the  way-side.  The  messenger 
of  mercy,  whom  you  aid  in  sending  abroad,  will  find 
the  hungry,  who  will  receive  the  bread  of  life.  And 
when,  at  last,  you  come  to  be  gathered  to  the  home 
of  prophets  and  apostles,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  then  will  you  still  more  clearly  see  the 
results  of  a  life  whose  aim  was  to  honor  God.  Then 
will  the  poor  whom  you  fed,  the  sick  whom  you  visit- 
ed, the  stranger  whom  you  sheltered,  the  distressed 
whom  you  relieved,  gather  around  you,  and  hail  you 
a  benefactor. 

You  ought  to  act  upon  principles  which  conscience 


384  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Ensures  the  approbation  of  conscience. 

will,  at  all  times  and  in  all  cases,  approve.  Do  you 
know  what  it  is  to  sit  down  to  meditate,  at  the  close 
of  the  day,  and  have  something  hang  upon  the  soul 
like  lead, — to  have  a  cloud  between  you  and  the 
throne  of  prayer  ?  Do  you  know  what  it  is  to  lie 
down  at  night,  and  look  back  upon  the  day,  and  the 
days  that  are  passing,  and  find  no  bright  spot  upon 
which  the  memory  lingers  with  pleasure?  Do  you 
know  what  it  is  to  lie  on  your  pillow  and  feel  the 
smitings  of  conscience,  and  have  the  heart  ache,  while 
the  clock  slowly  measures  off  the  hours  of  night? 
This  is  because  conscience  is  at  her  post,  calling  the 
soul  to  account.  She  lashes,  she  heaves  up  the 
waves  of  guilt,  till  the  soul  feels  like  being  buried 
under  them.  Do  you  not  thus  commune  with  your 
heart,  at  times  ?  But  if  you  will  live  for  God — wholly 
for  God — conscience  will  soothe  you,  comfort  you,  and 
bring  hope  to  your  soul,  even  in  your  darkest  hour. 
No  friend  can  be  found  to  supply  the  place  of  a  peace- 
ful conscience.  Men  will  give  their  property,  their 
time,  do  penance,  give  their  lives — any  thing  to  ap- 
pease conscience.  Let  them  live  for  God  and  his  ser- 
vice, and  she  will  not  chide ;  she  will  guide  to  the 
paths  of  peace  and  blessedness.  The  world  will  hon- 
or the  man  who  lives  for  God.  At  times,  men  will 
shun  the  face  of  the  pious,  and  profess  to  be  disgusted 
with  piety  ;  but  they  will  garnish  the  sepulchres  of 
prophets,  while  the  bones  of  the  wicked  lie  forgotten.. 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  385 

Obtains  the  approbation  of  the  world — and  of  Heaven. 

The  name  of  Howard  will  never  perish ;  nor  will 
the  name  of  Martyn,  or  Mills,  Brainerd,  or  Hannah 
More;  while  thousands  of  wicked  men,  with  equal  or 
more  influence  while  living,  die,  and  are  forever  gone 
from  remembrance.  But  the  approbation  of  men  is 
of  no  consequence.  You  wish  the  approbation  of 
Heaven.  Though  they  are  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand,  and  their  voices  are  without  number,  and 
though  they  enjoy  the  perfection  of  knowledge,  the 
perfection  of  holiness,  and  the  perfection  of  bliss,  yet. 
they  are  all  witnesses — a  great  cloud — of  your  race. 
They  bend  over  your  pathway,  as  you  run  towards  the 
New  Jerusalem.  Who  would  not  be  cheered,  could 
he  have  the  entire  approbation  of  all  his  friends  and 
acquaintances  ?  But,  though  you  cannot  expect  this, 
you  can  have  what  is  far  better.  You  can  have  the 
approbation  of  all  the  redeemed,  of  all  the  angels  in 
heaven,  and  of  the  eternal  God  himself;  and  this,  not 
for  an  hour,  a  day,  or  a  week,  for  a  fleeting  year,  but 
forever !  The  heavens  shall  depart  as  a  scroll,  and 
all  things  shall  pass  away,  except  the  approbation  of 
Jod.  That  shall  never  pass  away.  It  would  be 
.forth  your  life  to  have  his  approbation  a  single  hour 
when  you  come  to  die ;  but  you  will  have  him  your 
Father,  Friend,  and  Glory  forever.  Have  you  any 
doubt  in  your  mind  where  wisdom  would  now  lead 
you  ?  "  My  first  convictions  on  the  subject  of  religion 
were  confirmed  from  observing  that  really  religious 
25 


386         THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

The  dying  mother.  Feelings  of  an  author  in  closing'  his  boak. 

persons  had  some  solid  happiness  among  them,  which 
I  had  felt  that  the  vanities  of  the  world  could  not  give. 
I  shall  never  forget  standing  by  the  bed  of  my  sick 
mother. 

" '  Are  you  not  afraid  to  die  ? ' 

"  <  No.' 

" '  No !  Why  does  the  uncertainty  of  another  state 
give  you  no  concern  ? ' 

" '  Because  God  has  said  to  me,  Fear  not ;  when 
thou  passest  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee ; 
and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow  thee ! ' 

"The  remembrance  of  this  scene  has  oftentimes 
since  drawn  an  ardent  prayer  from  me,  that  I  might 
die  the  death  of  the  righteous." 

It  is  a  solemn  season  with  a  man  who  acts  from 
conscience,  when  he  comes  to  close  his  book,  and  bid 
his  reader  adieu.  His  motives  may  be  good,  yet  it  is 
human  to  err.  He  knows  that  he  may  have  made 
impressions  which  may  give  a  wrong  bias  to  some,  from 
which  they  will  never  recover.  He  may  have  wasted 
his  strength,  and  his  reader's  time,  upon  some  point 
of  comparatively  no  importance,  while  that  which  was 
really  of  great  importance  may  have  been  omitted. 
Ke  may  have  disgusted  where  he  hoped  to  instruct ; 
he  may  have  offended  where  he  intended  to  impress. 
At  any  rate,  he  is  about  to  send  a  book  out  into  the 
world,  which,  whatever  may  be  its  fate,  has  given  him 
the  opportunity  of  doing  good;  and  under  that  re- 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  387 

How  the  reader  is  entreated  to  act.  State  of  the  world. 

sponsibility  the  writer  must  continue.  If  I  mistake 
not,  a  sense  of  this  responsibility  is  now  felt  by  the 
author  of  these  pages.  I  have  addressed  a  class  of  my 
fellow-men  who  will  yield  to  none  in  point  of  respect- 
ability, prospective  influence,  and  importance.  I  have 
tried  to  throw  before  them  such  hints  as  my  own  wants 
and  limited  experience  have  suggested ;  and  I  am 
now  about  to  take  my  leave  of  them  till  I  meet  them, 
face  to  face,  at  the  last  great  day  of  assembling,  where 
we  shall  all  meet.  I  arn  speaking  to  you,  reader,  in 
your  own  behalf,  and  in  behalf  of  a  world  which  needs 
your  influence,  and  your  highest,  holiest  efforts.  Oth- 
ers may  talk  of  philanthropy  and  benevolence ;  but  who 
give  their  hearts  and  their  energies  for  the  salvation 
of  the  world,  except  those  whose  minds  have  been  en- 
lightened, and  whose  hearts  have  been  impressed  by 
the  truths  of  Christianity  ?  Who  built  the  first  hos- 
pital known  on  earth?  A  Christian.  Who  conceiv- 
ed the  idea  of  free  schools  for  the  whole  community  ? 
A  Christian.  Who  are  the  men  who  have  pushed 
civilization  among  the  barbarous,  who  have  broken  the 
fetters  both  from  body  and  mind,  and  created  civil  lib- 
erty for  man  ?  Who  ever  made  efforts,  vigorous,  sys- 
tematic, untiring,  to  spread  free  inquiry,  to  instruct  the 
ignorant,  to-  invigorate  the  mind,  and  raise  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  character  of  mankind  ?  They  are 
the  enlightened  men  who  act  under  the  influence  of 
the  Bible.  The  only  effort  which  is  now  making,  on 


388  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

, . . 

Much  depends  on  students.  Circumstances  in  which  we  are  to  act. 

the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  for  the  good  of  mankind, 
is  making  by  the  church  of  the  living  God.  Upon 
this,  and  upon  this  alone,  all  our  hopes  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world  from  darkness,  ignorance  and  sin, 
rest.  To  the  youth  of  our  nation — to  those  whose 
minds  are  now  in  a  process  of  cultivation  and  discipline, 
we  now  look  for  the  spirits  who  are  soon  to  go  abroad 
over  the  face  of  the  earth,  scattered,  like  the  Levites, 
among  all  the  tribes,  for  the  good  of  all.  Upon"  these 
young  soldiers  of  the  cross  do  we  look,  as  God's  ap- 
pointed instruments  for  doing  a  great  and  a  glorious 
work.  If  the  mind  of  man  shall  ever  be  raised  from 
its  brutishness  and  debasement — if  knowledge,  human 
and  divine,  are  to  go  abroad — if  liberty  is  to  wave  her 
banner  where  tyranny  now  sits — if  the  female  is  ever 
to  occupy  the  station  for  which  she  was  created — if 
domestic  happiness  is  to  be  known  and  enjoyed  through 
the  world, — the  youth  in  our  schools,  who  have  been 
baptized  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  have  a  great  work  to  do. 
Never  did  young  men  approach  the  stage  of  action 
under  circumstances  more  intensely  interesting— cir- 
cumstances which  demand  a  regenerated,  purified 
heart,  a  balanced,  disciplined  mind,  a  burning  zeal  and 
eloquence,  and  a  love  for  doing  good  which  many  wa- 
ters cannot  quench,  nor  floods  drown.  You  tread  up- 
on ground  bought  with  hardships,  tears  and  prayers ; 
enfranchised  by  toil  and  blood ;  amid  institutions  found- 
ed by  the  most  devoted  piety  and  anxious  solicitude 


THE  STUDENT'S   MANUAL.  389 

Responsibility  of  our  situation. 

of  our  fathers.  It  is  the  land  of  the  Pilgrims, — where 
the  bones  of  more  worthies  sleep  than  were  ever  before 
buried  in  the  same  length  of  time.  You  enter  among 
men  in  a  country  in  its  infancy.  The  nation  is  young 
— has  all  the  joyous  elasticity  of  the  young  giant — full 
of  enterprise,  growing  in  wealth,  in  population — increas- 
ing in  daring  experiments  and  hazardous  enterprise. 
An  experiment  in  regard  to  civil  freedom,  and  the  des- 
tiny of  a  nation  let  loose,  with  nothing  to  check  or  hold 
it  but  the  intelligence  and  the  religion  which  are  diffus- 
ed,— a  nation  let  loose,  and  many  centuries  in  advance 
of  all  other  nations  in  the  science  of  government,  at 
least,  and  yet  having  the  offals  of  all  other  Christian 
nations  constantly  floating  to  it, — is  now  making. 
You  are  to  live  and  act  among  those  who  will  give  per- 
manency to  our  institutions,  or  who  will  begin  the  work 
of  undermining.  You  are  coming  forward  at  a  time 
when  mind  seems  to  be  exhausting  itself,  and  Genius  to 
be  leaving  poetry,  that  he  may  aid  in  subduing  matter, 
so  that  a  score  of  miles  may  be  reduced  to  nothing, 
and  time  and  space  so  annihilated,  that  a  journey 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  a  continent  is  only 
a  delightful  excursion.  Nature  seems  to  bend  to  the 
torturing ;  and  winds  and  tides,  mountains  and  valleys, 
make  no  pretensions  to  being  considered  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  men.  You  are  to  act  in  a  day  when  pub- 
lic opinion  is  omnipotent.  A  standing  army  retires 
before  it,  and  marshals  only  in  the  shade  of  the 


390  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL 

Power  of  reaching'  men.  The  Bible  the  great  instrument. 

thrones  of  tyrants.  Every  thing  is  controlled  by  it ; 
and  yet  every  one  may  do  his  part  to  mould  that  pub- 
lic opinion  according  to  his  pleasure.  Every  man  has 
the  best  possible  opportunity  to  do  good  or  hurl.  You 
may  pen  a  sentence  or  a  paragraph,  and  it  will  travel 
through  the  nation,  into  tens  of  thousands  of  families, 
and,  in  a  few  weeks,  pass  through  Europe,  and  influ- 
ence millions  of  immortal  beings.  You  are  coming 

O  o 

forward  at  a  time,  and  in  a  nation,  where  a  good  edu- 
cation is  a  sure  passport  to  respectability,  to  influence, 
to  office.  No  difficulties  stand  in  your  way.  The 
teeming,  busy  millions  of  this  land  invite  you  to  min- 
gle your  destiny  with  theirs,  and  aid  them  to  rise  in 
virtue,  in  knowledge,  and  in  religion,  as  they  roll  on 
towards  the  judgment-day.  You  have  friends  to  cheer 
you  on  in  every  worthy  enterprise,  who  will  uphold 
your  hands  when  they  fall,  encourage  you  when  the 
spirits  fail,  share  your  burdens,  and  rejoice  in  your 
success.  You  come  forward  with  the  history,  the  ex- 
perience of  all  other  nations  before  you  ;  and  at  your 
feet  lie  pictures  of  men  whose  example  it  will  be  hon- 
or, and  glory,  and  immortality  to  follow,  as  well  as 
of  men  whose  example  is  death.  You  have  the  Bi- 
ble, too. — that  mightiest  of  all  weapons, — under  whose 
broad  and  powerful  aid,  individual  and  national  char- 
acter soon  ripens  into  greatness,  and  one  which  is,  of 
all  others,  the  grand  instrument  of  blessing  the  world. 
Tens  of  thousands,  breathing  the  spirit  of  that  book, 


THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  391 

Encouragements  to  action.  Rewards  of  a  life  well  spent. 

are  already  in  the  field  at  work,  trying  to  bless  and 
save  the  earth.  Some  fall — strong  ones,  too— "too 
much  for  piety  to  spare ;  "  but  the  plan  is  the  plan  of 
God,  and  the  removal  of  this  or  that  agent  does  not  a 
moment  retard  his  great  plans.  Under  the  full,  the 
pure,  the  purifying  light  of  the  gospel,  you  are  called 
to  live  and  act.  If  you  live  for  God,  fulfil  the  high 
destiny  which  is  before  you,  you  have  thousands  all 
around  you  to  cheer  you  onward,  to  strike  hands  with 
you,  and  go  forward  as  agents  of  a  benevolence  whose 
aim  is,  to  bring  many  sons  and  daughters  to  glory. 
Above  you  are  the  pious  dead,  watching  around  your 
steps,  and  ready  to  minister  to  your  wants.  And  there, 
high  above  all  principalities  and  powers,  sits  the  ever- 
lasting Redeemer,  holding  a  crown  which  shall  shortly 
be  yours,  if  you  are  faithful  to  him.  He  will  be  near 
you.  You 'shall  never  faint.  Every  sin  you  conquer 
shall  give  you  new  strength  ;  every  temptation  you 
resist  will  make  you  more  and  more  free  in  the  Lord ; 
every  tear  you  shed  will  be  noticed  by  your  great 
High  Priest ;  every  sigh  you  raise  will  reach  his  ear. 
Up,  then,  my  dear  young  friends  !  up,  and  gird  on 
the  armor  of  God.  Enlist  under  the  banner  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  let  your  powers,  your  faculties,  your  en- 
ergies, your  heart,  all,  all  be  his.  Bright  and  glori- 
ous is  the  day  before  you ;  white  and  full  are  the 
fields  that  wait  for  you ;  girded  and  strong  are  the 
companions  who  will  go  with  you ;  beautiful  upon  the 


392  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL. 

Conclusion. 

mountains  shall  be  your  feet,  wherever  they  carry  ti- 
dings of  mercy.  The  state  of  the  world  is  such,  and 
so  much  depends  on  action,  that  every  thing  seems 
to  say  loudly,  to  every  man,  "  Do  something  " — "  do 
it !  " — "  do  it !  "  Keep  your  heart  with  all  diligence; 
break  away  from  every  sin  ;  repent  of  every  sin  ;  live 
unto  God ;  and  your  reward  shall  be  what  "  ear  hath 
not  heard,  eye  hath  not  seen,  neither  hath  it  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive." 


HECOM1VEENDATSONS, 

i  THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL;  designed  by  specified!-  \ 

<  rections,  to  aid  in  forming  and  strengthening   the  Intel-  $ 
>       lectual  and  moral  character  and  hahits  of  the   Student,  j 
j       By  JOHN  TODD,  Pastor  of  the  Edwards  Chuich  North-  $ 

J  ampton. 

\ 

I  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Prof.   Stitart  to  the  Author. — "I  thank  you  > 

t  very  cordially  for  your  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.     I  have  not  found  time  j 

J  vet  to   read   it  through  ;    but  I  have  read  a  number  of  chapters,  and  J 

3  Highly  approve  of  both  the  design  and  execution.     It  cannot  fail  to  do  t 
J  good.     It  will  attract  by  its  manly  independence  of  lone,  as  well  as  by  ? 
J  the   sparkling  brilliancy  of  its   thoughts.     Made  virtute !     Persevere  } 
|  in  your  own  advice,  and  it  cannot  be  that  you  will  not  reap  a  bountiful  / 
J  harvest." 

§       "We  do  not  often  meet  with  a  book  which  contains  a  greater  amount  5 

5   of  sound  counsel,  and  honest  sense,  than  this.     The  views  of  the  author  ? 

J   are  in  general  most  judicious;  the  plans  he  lays  out  and  enforces,  are  | 

J   good;  and  action  upon  them  could  scarcely  fail  to  bo  productive  of  the  > 

;   best  results.  He  has  brought  to  his  task  a  mind  whose  experience  has  5 

J   been  large,  and  whose  acquirements  and  discrimination  are  every  where  > 

•   apparent.  Ends,  desirable  to  be  reached,  are  pointed  out  with  remarka-  ' 

<  ble  perspicuity,  and  the  whole  scope  and   intention  of  the  volume  can-  J 
|  not  be  too  highly  praised." — The   Knickerbocker. 

»       "  By  adapting  truth  to  particular  classes  of  men.  a  great  advantage  j 

I  is  gained  in  point  of  impressiveness  and   utility.     This  is  clearly  seen  > 

\  in   the  able  and  interesting   work  we  have  just  named.     The  Author  / 

<  writes  as  one  that  has  been  himself  over  the  ground  which  he  points  out  > 
j  to  the  young  student — and  he  pours  out  the  results  of  experience,  ob-  ? 

<  servatio'n  and  reading,  from  a  full  mind,  and  in  forcible  and  perspicuous  < 
J  language.     The  topics  are  rich   and  varied,  and  are  treated  in  a  way  ' 
J  which   will  attract  and  fix  the   attention   of  the    reader;  who   will  be  J 
\  very  unfaithful  to  himself  if  he  does  not  rise  from  the  perusal,  with  high-  > 

<  er  aspirations  after  excellence  and  new  means  for  attaining  it. "---Cora-  \ 
»   necticut   Observer.  ? 

J       "  This  book  :s  just  what  the  title  intimates.     From  our  knowledge  of  J 

4  the  author's  mind,  we  should  expect,  what  we  find  on  examination,  a   / 
J   truly  valuable  work.     It  supplies  a  vacancy  which  no  oiher  work  has   | 
J  filled.     It  evinces  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  dangers,  propensi-   ' 
J  ties  and  excellences  of  youthful  students,  and  a  warm  and  discrimma-    } 
J  ting  aflfeciio'i  for  their  welfare  and  happiness.     Is  discusses  a  great  va-    I 

riety  of  s  I'lj.^cts,  and  all  with  ease,  energy  and  practical  sagacity.    No  5 

student  s'lojld  fail  to  possess  it  and  to  use  it  as  u  Manual.     Itabounds  i 

inlheim-t   important  counsels,   in  valuable  and  striking  thoughts  and  | 

illu.strat'o  u      Every  thing  is  spoken  out  fully,  with  a  strong  perception  J 

of  its  a;i  'licalion,  as  by  one  who  knows  others  in  knowing  himself.  We  > 

recomm  M  I  it  to  all  young  men  who  are  concerncfl  to  cultivate  their  • 

minds  n,i  I  lo  be  respectable  and  happy  in  life." — Episcopal  Recorder,  t 
Philadeh'iia. 


"  Mr.  Todd  is  favorably  known  to  the  literary  and  reVgious  commu-  1 

nity  bv  liis  Index  Rerum,  and  Lectures  to  Children.    The  present  vol-  £ 

ume  comes   before  the  public  with  more  pretensions,  and  will  l>e  judg-  | 

ed  by  a  higher  and  more  severe  standard  than  has  yet   been  adopted  » 

towards  the  author.     It  is  '  designed,  by  specific  directions,  to  aid  in  \ 

forming  and  strengthening  the  intellectual   and  moral  character  and  , 

habits  of  the  Student.'      No  one  can  recur  to  his  own  academical  and  j 

collegiate  life,  without  acknowledging  the  great  need  of,  and  the  great  ? 

benefit  to  be  derived  frcm  a  book  of  this   sort.    Though  its  title  con-  j 

fines  its  design  to  the  student,  we  venture  to  say  that  no  young  person  I 

can  read  the  book  with  a  desire  of  improvement,  and  "not  be  made  \ 

belter  by  it.     We  are  not  given  to  eulogizing  or  puffing,  being  greatly  , 

deficient  in  ihe  '  organ  of  veneration/  but  we  must  he.  permitted  to  say,  | 

that  Northampton  may  well  be  proud  of  such  an  author  as  Mr.  Todd  | 

discovers  himself  to  be  by  this  volume.     It  should  be  put  into  the  hands  J 

of  every  young  man,  student  or   not,  and  fai\h(u\\y''stvdied.    Mr.  T's.  I 

notions  in  regard  to  romantic,  fictitious  works,  wrll  be  considered  as  til-  \ 

tra  by  some,  but  in  regard  to  their  being  indulged  in  by  students,  we  | 

more  than  half  agree  with  him.     A  scholar  can  always  find  something  $ 

better  to  do  than  reading  novels.     Much  lias  been  writien  and  clone  for  | 

youth  within  a  few  years,  but  no  book  before  this  lias  appeared  to  meet  J 

the  wants  of  those  of  riper  age,  and  approaching  manhood." — Hamp-  5 

shire  Gazette.  \ 

"  Every  student  ought  not  only  to  possess  this  invaluable  book,  but  J 

to  make  its  contents  liis  own.     ]l  is  a  casket  of  rich  gems.     He  has  but  J 

to  gain  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  its  precepts,  and  pursue  them  rig-  5 

idly,  and   he  wnl  have  no  occasion  to  mourn  over  lost  labor,  or  time  J 

misspent.     Every  effort  will  be  successful,  and  every  day   will  carry  5 

him  onward.     The  way  to  intellectual  eminence  is  through  a  wilder-  J 

ness;  and  those  who  attempt  to  travel  it,  areolten  at  a  loss  what  course  j 

to  pursue.     Hence  nfany  become  discouraged,  and   many  waste  their  J 

strength  in  wandering  about,  without  gaining  an   inch  of  ascen'.    Mr.  ", 

Todtl  has  cut  a  turnpike  through,  upon  which  any  one,  by  patient  and  J 

persevering  labor,  may  travel  directly  up  to  the  suumn.it.     We  would  J 

recommend  the  book  as  an  inestimable  treasure,  not  merely  to  the  stu-  J 

dent,  hut  to  apprentices  and  others  who  desire  to  educate  themselves,  in  J 

their  spare  hours  without  the  aid  of  a  preceptor.  It  will  lea<  h  them  how  J 

to  glean  all  their  leisure  moments— how   to  study,  and  how  to  retain  < 

what  they  acquire.     And  it  is  not  the  least  of  its  excellencies,  that  it  J 

connects,  in  an   attractive  manner,  moral  with  intellectual  culture."—  < 

Spring  field  Gazette.  J 

"Mr.  Todd's  book  is  intended  as  a  kind  and  friendly  monitor  to  J 
young  men.  It  is  designed  to  fill  that  important  vacancy  uhich  oc- 
curs  in  the  life  of  the  student  after  he  has  left  his  home,  and  before  his 
mind  is  so  disciplined  and  his  judgment  so  matured,  that  he  can  with- 
stand  as>aul,s  upon  his  principles  and  the  allurements  of  the  world. 
It  is  a  critical  period  for  young  men.  They  need  a  fiiend  constantly 

near  them  at  this  time  of  life.     They  are  beyond  the  reach  of  paternal  5 

counsel  and  their  teachers  are  much  of  the  time  out  of  their  sight. —  | 

The  manual   can   always  be  at  hand  on  their   study-table.      It  would  | 

prove  an  infalliable  guide  to  duty,  if  properly  read  and  its  instructions  * 

closely  followed  out.     It  it  is  full  of  practical  wisdom  and  wholesome  j 

truths,  and   their  application  is  enforced  by  illustrations  after  the  au-  j| 

thor's  usual  and  happy  manner.      Mr.  Tod'd  has   labored   diligently,  j! 

and  we  think  very  successfully,  in  producing  a  valuable  and  important  ]' 
work." — Northampton  Courier. 


I  "In  our  opinion,  Mr.   Todd   has  thrown  together  some  of  the  best 

|  practical  lessons  lor  Students,  (r  for  young  men  generally,   that  we 

J  have  ever  seen  embodied  in  a  single  woik.      The  advice  suits  the  ex- 

<  perience  of  stud' nts  as  they  are  in  our  colleges.     1  he  author  evidently 

?  knew  the  wants,  the  temptations  of  the  young — and  he  has  furnished 

;  them  with  a  book  which  if  carefully  read,  and  its  precepts  adopted,  will 

I  lead  them  through  all  difficul lies." — U.  S.  Gazette,  Philadelphia. 

"  We  have  looked  through  this  volume  with  more  than  ordinary  care, 
>   and  certainly  with  more  than  ordinary  interest.     Every  student  has  felt 

*  the  need  of  a  friend,  willing  and  able  to  instruct  him  011  the  thousand 

*  questions  which  arise  in  relation  to  his  course  of  studies,  time  of  labor 
|   and  exercise,  his    health,    diet,   discipline  of  mind,  &c.     Detached 

*  hints  on  all  these  subjects  may  be  found  scattered  through  a  library  ; 
|   but  they  have  never  been  placed  within  the  student's  reach,  nor  redu- 
»   ced  to  a  form  that  rendered  them  useful.  The  work  before  us  is,  in  this 
|   point  of  view,  invaluable      It  not  only  excites  a  literary  ambition,  but 
|   directs   it  to  the  noblest   objects  and  guides  its  efforts  with  a  wisdom 
\   and  propriety  deserving  the  highest  commendation.     Every  student  has 
|   felt  and  regretted,  in  advanced  years,  the  time  wasted  by  a  misappli- 

*  cation  of  intellectual  labor.     Still  more,  perhaps,  has  he  lamented  hab- 
?   its  of  mind  then  acquired  which  no  subsequent  efforts  could  correct. — 
{   To  avoid  these  dangers,  and  to  ensure  the  student  all  the   advantages 
j   of  sage  and  at  the  same   lime  animated  counsel,  he  should  refer  fre- 
?  quenlly  lo  the  Manual.     It  will  be  found  a   pleasing  volume,  its  les- 

*  sons  being  always  conveyed  in  an  easy  and  aiiractive  slyle,  and  ur- 
?   ged  by  familiar  hislorical  or  other  illustrations." — Philadelphia  Ga- 
|  zette. 

5  "A  great  many  hooks  have  been  written  which  contain  a  great  ma- 
?  ny  good  things  that  have  been  entirely  lost  to  the  persons  whom  they 
j  were  designed  to  benefit,  in  consequence  of  their  being  cloihed  in  a 
i  slyle  ofcomposilion  so  entirely  uninteresting  as  to  require  an  effort  to 
5  search  them  out,  such  as  few  readers  are  willing  to  bestow.  Many  at- 
J  tempts  have  been  made  to  open  a  volume  of  experience  to  that  class 
J  of  young  men  lo  whom  ihe  book  before  us  is  particularly  addressed, 
but  most  of  them  have  either  been  dogmatically  repulsive  or  as  dry  in 
detail  as  Briggs'  Cookery  or  M'Kenzie's  5000  Receipts.  But  on  open- 
ing  this  Manual,  you  are  not  inviled  lo  saw  wood  or  lo  a  solitary  walk 
for  health,  but  you  join  arms  with  Ihe  author  and  go  with  him  while  he 
enters  into  all  the  views,  feelings,  and  habits  of  a  student,  and  seems 
to  live  over  again  a  student's  life  :  ''As  I  look  back,"  says  he,  "  up- 
on  the  days  when  I  was  a  '  student,'  I  ran  see  thai  here  I  went  wroiig, 
and  there  I  mistook  ;  here  I  missed  a  golden  opportunity,  and  there  I 
acquired  a  wrong  bias;  and  as  I  sometimes  walk  past  a  college,  as  it 
is  lighted  up  for  evening  study,  I  pause,  and  sigh,  that  I  cannot  go 
(  back  and  begin  life  again,  carrying  with  me  my  present  experience. 
5  I  think  too.  1  can  see,  that  if  there  h.id  been  such  a  book  as  1  am  now 

<  attempting  to  write  for  students,  put  into  my  hands  at  an  early   period, 
J    it  would   have   been  of  incalculable  advantage  lo  me.     I  have  strong 

<  hopes  of  saying  what  will   be   useful,  inasmuch   as  1  shall  principally 
\   draw  from  my  own  experience  and  from  the  remembrance  of  my  own 

<  wants."     The  authors's  object  has  undoubtedly  been  most  happily  ac- 
5    complished.     His  experience  has  been  the  experience  of  almost  every 
{   one  who  has  lived  the  "  student's"  life,  and  it  has  been  related  in  a 
\    manner  which  does  not  solicit  but  commands  attention." — Providence 

<  Journal, 


HAS    JUST  PUBLISHED    THE     THIRD    EDITION  OF 


'*y 

INDEX   RERUM:      | 

\  OR, 

INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS  ;  intended  as  a  Manu-  \ 
al  to  aid  the  Student  and  the  Professional  Man,  in  5 
preparing  himself  for  usefulness.  With  an  Intro-  $ 
5  duction,  illustrating  its  utility  and  method  of  use.  < 
I  By  JOHN  TODD,  Pastor  of  the  Edwards  Church,  * 
t  Northampton.  The  plan  of  this  work  is  very  sim-  > 
J  pie,  and  so  exceedingly  well  adapted  to  the  pur-  > 
pose  for  which  it  is  intended,  that  it  has  received  $ 
the  approbation  of  all  who  have  examined  it.  | 

RKCOMMENDATIONS. 

From  Professor  Worcester,  of  Amherst  College. 


U 


"It  is  just  the  thing.     I  have  never  had   a  system  so  complete  as  | 

yours.     I  shall  take  an  early  opportunity  to  speak  to  the  whole   body  t 

of  students  in  regard  to  it,  and  shall  advise  every  man  to  buy  a  copy."  J 

\                           From  Professor  Olmsted,  of  Yale  College.  $ 

5       "I  am  happy  to  say,   that   the  plan  and  execution  of  the  Index  Re-  # 

2   rum.  are  both  such  as  will  fully  meet  my  approbation  ;  and  I  shall  re-  e 

J   commend  it  to  my  pupils,  as  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  their  studies."  ) 

J                    From  Professor  M.  Hopkins  of  Williams  College.  ) 

$       ""I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  the  plan  of  the  Index  Rerum,  ? 

J   by  Mr.  Todd,  is  better  adapted  to  the  object  for  which  it  is  intended,  / 

J   than  any  other  with  which  I  am  acquainted.     Its  great  excellence  con-  $ 

t   sists  in  its  simplicity,  and  this  renders  its  advantages  so  obvious,  that  to  j 

5   those  who  want  any  thing  of  the  kind,  an  inspection  of  the  work  must  ' 

$   preclude  the  necessity  of  any  recommendation.     It  will  give  me  pleas-  5 
$   lire  to  speak  well  of  it  here." 

From  Professor  M.  P.  Jewett,  of  Marietta  College,  Ohio. 

5       "  Of  tlie  necessity  of  something  of  the  kind  to  hold  fast  the  thousand  $ 

J   important  facts   and  sentiments  which  refuse  to  be  detained  by   the  { 

J   slight  associations  of  the  moment.  I  have  been  fully,  painfully  sensible.  ' 

j    A  few  years  ago  I  adopted  the  plan  recommended  by  Locke,  but  soon  J 

t   relinquished  it  as  requiring  too.  much  time  and  labor.      I  subsequently  * 

J    purchased  the  Cambridge  Theological  Common   Place  Book,  but  here  J 

i    I  Ibund  myself  embarrassed  by  a  printed  Index  of  subjects  designed  on-  4 

\   ly  for  professional  reading.   And  it  is  only  in  the  plait  of  Rev.  Mr.  Todd's  $ 

j   work,  thfit  I  find  an  arrangement  exactly  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  pro-  5 
t  fessional  and  literary  man." 

"1  fully  concur  in  the  favorable  opinion  expressed  of  the  simple  ar-  t 

>   rangcment  and  utility  of  the  Index  Rerum."  $ 

\                                                                     GEORGE  BANCROFT.  4 


S   From  M.  A.  H.  Kites,   Professor  of  Languages  in  South  Hanover   < 
t  College,  Indiana.  £ 

>  "  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  express  my   concurrence   in  ihe   opinions  $ 

5  that  have  been  given,  commendatory  of  the  "  Index  Rerum,"  by  Rev.  > 

<  John  Todd.  of  Northampton,  Mass.     I  would  particularly  recommend  £ 
t  the  use  of  it,  to  all  young  persons,  both  as  a  means  of  inspiring  a  love  / 
|  of  reading,  and  of  making  their  reading  useful. 

}  From  the  Commercial  Herald,  Philadelphia. 

t       ''  INDEX  RERUM — Every  reading  man   has  fell  the  difficult}-  of  re-   J 

|  taining  in  his   memory  the  names  of  books  in  which  he  has  seen  able   5 

|  dissertations  on  any  given  subject,  or  from  which  he  acquired  any  spe-   j> 

t  cific  information  ;  fell  ihe  inconvenience  of  not  being  able  to  refer  to   J 

•J  the  si'bject,  whenever  occasion  might  require  :  hence   the    importance    J 

<  of  noting  down,  at  the  time,  the  bock   and  page  which  contains    infor-    J 
J  mation  lliat  strikes  us  as  valuable,  with  a  view  of  being  able  to  refer   J 
i  to  it  at  any  subsequent  period.  £ 
*       Now,  the   book,  whose  nnme   heads  this  article,  is  designed  for  the   J 

<  purpose  of  an  index  to  facts,   sentiments,  subjects,  &,c.  which  having  J 
i  been  read,  are  considered   worth  remembering,   or  which   may  strike   J 
5  us  as  worth  being  again  referred  to.     We  once  heard  the  remark  made,  £ 
5  by  a  gentleman  of  great  acquirements,  that  next  in  importance  to  be-   J 
5  ing  thoroughly  acquainted  with  a  subject,  was  a  knowledge  of  where    > 

<  it  could  be  found  ably  treated  of.      The  remark  was  the  result  of  long  J 
•i  experience,  and  was  true.     The  Index  Rerum  is  designed  to  supply   | 
J  llhs  secondary  knowledge."  J 

From  the  U.  S.  Gazette. 

"  INDEX  RERUM. — A  volume  which  may  be  of  inestimable  value  to  5 

t   the  student,  and  even  general  reader.     It  is  entitled  the  "  Index   Re-  | 

j>   rum."     It  is  the  mode  adopted  by  the  Rev.  John  Todd,  of  Northamp-  J 

ton,  Mass,  for  retaining  for  good   use  the  valuable  portion   of  all   his  > 

reading.     It  is  a  folio  post,  ruled  and  lettered,  for  the  reception  of  (he  • 

hints  fhat  occur  to  the  reader.     For  example,  suppose  you  were  read-  J 

ing  Lowth's  Lectures  on  Hebrew  Poetry,  and  you   believe  that  his  re-  \ 

murks   upon   the  character  of  the  bock  of  Job  might  be  hereafter  refer-  J 

red  to  with  advantage,  you  turn  to  your  Index,  and  under  the  letter  J.  J 

you  write  J 

JOB — the  hook  investigated — Lowth's  Heb.  Poet.  Lect.  S3  and 34.  \ 

Or,  in  reading  this  very  article,  you  should  feel  that  the  notice  of  a  > 

$   good  work  is  deserving  remembrance,  you  write  :  f 

j       INDEX — notice  ot — U.  fcs.  Gazette,  Way  20.      Mem.  to  purchase  a  J   • 

I   copy.  $ 

5       By  this   mode  the  drudgery  of  a  common  place  book  is  saved,  one  > 

#   is  spared  the  trouble  of  copying  the  whole  of  the  article  of  which  re-  J 

J   mernbrance  is  desired."  i 

J  From  the  National  Gazette,  Philadelphia.  < 

5       "The  quarto   Index  Rerum,  or    '  fndex   of  Subjects  intended  as  a  j 

manual  to  aid  ihe  student  and  professional    man    in  preparing  himself  > 

for  usefulness,'  is  belter  adapted  to  its  purpose  than  any  work  of  the  » 

<  kind  which  we  have  seen.     The  author  of  the  arrangement  is  tlie  Rev.  | 
5   John   Todd,  of  Northampton,  Mass.     We  could  not  recommend  too  j 

strongly  the  use  of  it  to  all  persons  who  would  turn  their  reading  to  full  > 
account.  Mr.  Todd's  sensible  introduction  explains  the  method,  which  j 
is  as  simple  as  it  is  efficacious."  | 


HAS   ALSO    PUBLISHED   THE    TEXTH    EDITION   OF 

f  LECTURES  TO  CHILDREN  ;  Familiarly  illus-  5 

<  trating  Important  Truth.     By  JOHN  TODD,  Pastor  < 
I      of  the  Edwards  Church,  Northampton. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

From  the  New   York  Evange'ist. 

11  We  take   peculiar  pleasure  in  recommending  this  little 

book  to  our  youthful  readers  as  an  important  acqusition  to  > 

t   the  Juvenile  literature   of  our  country.    The  aiiihor  has  5 

J    succeeded    in    adapting    his    style    to    those     for  whom  | 

\    he  writes.    His  illustrations  are  so  simple,  that  we  think  < 

\    they  cannot  fail  to  bring  his  subjects  down,  or  rather  to  car-  \ 

t    ry  them  up  to  the  comprehension  of  the  youngest  reader.  J 

|    But  leu-  authors  can  write  successfully  for  children.     To  do  $ 

<  so  requires  not  merely  science  and  a  general  acquaintance  t 
J    with  the  laws  of  mind,  but  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  pa-  * 
>    culiar  operations  of  the  infant  intellect.     This   knowledge  5 
£    can  be  acquired  only  from  persona!  intercourse    with  chil-  '* 
t    ch-eu,  by  one  who  loves  them.     The   style  of  this  book  is  ; 
J    somewhat  like  that  of  Abbott's  works,  yet  abounding  more 


j  in  anecdotal    illustration,  and   evidently  designed  for  the  t 

S  youngest  readers.     Ths  author's  points  are  briefly  and  sim-  t 

'  pi  v  stated;  his  illustrations  attractive,  beautiful  and  satisfac-  j 

I  lory."  i 

From  fie  Lowell   Observer.  I 

i        "This  small  voluma  is  admirably  adapted  to  answer  the  t 

t  end  for  which  it  is  designed.     Tiie  author  has   succeeded  t 

t  very  happily  inaocom!ir.n!atiug  himself  to  the  comprehen-  5 

J  sion  of  children— a  task  wliicli  from  its  extreme  difficulty  ? 

<  is  rarely  executed  wall;  and  \V3  cannot  doubt  that  the  easy  ^ 
?  and  beautiful  illustrations   of   Scripture   with   which   the  > 
j  work  abounds,  will  secure  to  it  an  extensive  circulation,  and  £ 

<  bring  back  upon  the  author  the  blessings  of  very   many  of  < 
?  lha  rising  gEMKM-atiou,  as  well  as  of  ihoss  who  are  specially  ? 
J  interested  for  their  moral  And  Christian  improvem-nit.     So  J 
|  s:iys  the  editor  of  the  Albany  Journttl  &f  Tdegrnph:     and  | 
t  Irwingexaininsd  the  book  for  myseif  with  great  pleasure,  I  t 
j  fully  concur  in  tli3  testiimu\r.     I  had  u  )t  sup|)osud  that  Mr.  > 
j  To  M  could  desuand  from  his  accustom  ul  elevation  ofstyle,  5 
^  and  feed  the  babas  with  simple  rnilk;  but  scarcely   has  it  £ 
*  ever  been  dona  more  successfully." 

yt  WV  \x-v\x  VVVWX  W     XX^-X-V  -%'VX<\/WWVVVXW\WVV'VVXA'VViWV^  WVVV%  *» 


VW  WVVV*  WWW  VVfc 


*  From  A'jbolCs  M  igizine. 

I  "Tim  book  ia,  in  our  opinion,  written  in  ths  right  style, 

)  and  on  the  right  principles  for  interesting  and  b;nefitin<j 

$  chijilren.     It  must  take  strong   hold  of  th  Jin  and  <lo  good.  > 

<  Tha  saveral   lectures  are  on  the  most  important  subjects  I 

<  competed  with  the  salvation  of  the  soul;  thay  coma   di-  \ 
\  rectly  to  the  point;  they  are  full,  perhaps  too  full  of  anec-  > 

<  dote  and   illustration ;  the   little   reader,   however,  cannot  £ 
i  avoid  understanding  ths  b3aringof  all,  and  will  with  diffi-  < 


j 
\ 


f 


culty  shelter  his  conscience  from  its  influence." 

From,  the  Eoangdic'd  Mtgazine.  | 

"This  little  work  contains  twelve  little  'sermons,'  which  J 
the  author  originally  delivered  to  the  children  of  his  own  < 
charge,  as  a  five  o'clock  exercise  on  the  Sabbath,  at  inter-  I 
vals  of  three  months.    The  lectures  are  designed  to  illus-  > 
trate  to  infant  minds  some  of  the  most  important  subjects  of  | 
revelation;  such  as  the  existence  of  GJ  I,  the  Atonement,  < 
Repentance,  Faith,  and  its  US3S,  our  Accountability  to  God,  > 
the  Duty  of  keeping  the  Sabbath,  &c.    The  author  has  at-  * 
tempteci    by  simplicity  and  familiarity  of  style,  and  the  j 
abundant  use  of  explanation,  description,  comparison,  and  j 
anecdote,  to  bring  these  subjects  down  to  the  comprehen-  ! 
sion  of  the  youngest  readers,   and  to  impregs  a  practical  \ 
sensa  of  them  upon  their  consciences  and  their  hearts.     In  | 
this  attempt,  for  the  most  part,  we  think  he   has  succeeded  \ 
beyond  what  is  common  in  this  species  of  writing.     We  > 
have  read  the  book  with  a  lively  interest  ourselves;  and  we  £ 
may  mention  the  circumstances,  as  affording  an  appropri-  < 
ate  testimony  to  its  worth,  that  our  little  ones,  too  young  to  | 
be  readers,  would  often  as  they  overheard  us,  b  j  dnuvu  from  * 
their  gambols  and  chained  to  our  knees  to  listen  with  eager  | 
delight  to  the  stories  and  illustrations.     Said  one  of  them,  t 
on  the  Sa')bath  morning,  'O,  I  wish  that  book  was  good  to  # 
read  Sabbath  day  !'     It  is  easy,  with  such  helps,  to  interest  £ 
the  very  youngest  of  our  children  in  religious  instruction  ;  5 
not  only  to  awaken  their  curiosity,  but  also  to  elicit  their  \ 
moral  sensibilities,  and  lead   them,  of  thair  own  accord,  to  > 
J    think,  and  reason,  and  moralize.     We  can  hardly  wish  our  £ 
<  juvenile  readers,  of  which  we  trust  wo  have  some,  a  more  < 
'    acceptable  present  from  their  parents,  than  the  'Lectures  to  < 
Children ;'  and  certain  we  are,  that  all  sensible  parents,  s 
however  competent  of  themselves,  to  the  business  of  teach-  | 
ing  thnir  children,  must  gratefully  appreciate  theaid,  which  # 
i    books  of  this  description  afford  them,  in  stimulating  their  $ 
5    own  ingenuity  and  adding  pleasure  to  their  delightful  task."  J 


J       "We  very  much  question  whether  Mr. Todd  could  have  j 

|  engaged  in  any  labor  which  would  belter  subserve  the  great  $ 

f  interesis  of  religion— the  interests  of  that  blessed  kingdom  t 

$   which  is  most  dear  to  every  pious  heart, — than  by  writing  * 

J  these  Lectures.     He  has  not  descended  from  the  high  and  J 

|  holy  work  of  the   ministry,   by  preaching  to  children  or  J 

<  writing  for  them,  as  some  may  suppose.     He  is  magnifying  \ 
j   his  cftice.     When  did  the  Saviour  appear  more  divinelv  > 
J  glorious  than  in  his  exhibitions  of  affectionate  regard  for  £ 
£  little  children  ?     We  hope  our  brother  will  be  encouraged  t 
\  to  continue  this  kind  of  labor,  till  all  the  great  doctrines  of  ? 
J  the  Bible  are  illustrated  for  the  young  in  the  game  interest-  \ 
|   ing  manner.     If  there   is  any  deficiency  in  eur   Sabbath  \ 

<  School  books,  or  in  cur  instructions,  it,  is  we  believe,  in  not  » 
\  giving  a  sufficient  prominence  to  the  fundamental  doctrints  | 
5  of  the  gospel.     These  Lectures  are  the  beginning  of  \\hat  < 
J   we  have  been  longing  to  see  for  more  than  two  years." 

Sabbath  School  Visitor.  J 

**  $ 

<  "A  small  volume  containing  twelve 'Lectures  to  Children,  > 

\  familiarly  illustrating  important  truth,' by  Rev.  John  Todd,  £ 

5  Pastor  of  the  Edwards  Church,  Northampton,  is  just  pub-  < 

$   lished.     It  is  a  selection,   the  author  informs  us,  from  lee-  \ 

<  lures  delivered,  as  a  part  of  pasto.al  duty,  to  the  chiidnn  J 
j   under  his  care.     It  is   the  best   book  of  the  kind  we  have  < 
*  ever  seen.     The  thoughts,  the  language  and  the  illustra-  ? 

tions,  all  show   an  admirable   tact  for  presenting  truth  to  > 

young  minds  in   such  a  way  that  it  will   be  retained  and  | 

made  profitable.     We  commend  the  book  and  the  author's  < 

5   plan  of  teaching  to  children,  to  the  attention  of  ministers  ;  J 

$  and  the  Lectures  themselves  to  parents  universally,  as  well  J 

I  calculated  to  furnish  them  valuable  aid  in  the  religious  edu-  < 
>  cation  of  their  children." — Vermont  Chronicle. 


* 
* 


?  'Perhaps  most  of  you  have  seen  a  very  lovely  little  book 
5  recently  published,  entitled  'Todd's  Lectures  to  Children.' 
$  It  is  very  tine,  exquisitely  fine,  and  happy  in  its  illustrations 
j  of  truth".  But  it  has  one  serious  fault.  Many  of  its  illus- 
*  trations,  I  may  say  most  of  them,  are  not  calculated  to  make 
J  a  correct  impression  respecting  the  guilt  of  sinners,  or  to 
^  make  them  feel  bow  much  tliey  have  been  to  blame.  This 
\  is  very  unfortunate.  If  the  writer  had  guarded  his  illustra- 
5  tions  on  this  point,  so  as  to  make  them  impress  sinners  with 
>  a  sense  of  their  guilt,  I  do  not  see  how  a  child  could  read 
<  through  that  book  and  not  be  converted." 

Rev.  Mr.  Finney's  Lecturet  on  Revivals. 


University  of  California 

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Return  this  material  to  the  library 

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twin 


JAN  2 11992 

NOV09  1992 


8ft  1991 


A     000914819     8 


